


This cycle of death and rebirth (is so vexing I need to grind my teeth)

by HybrisAnaideia



Series: Aurea Crystalli Dei Virtutis [1]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Horror, Brainwashing/Magical Enslavement, Canon-Atypical Graphic Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Horror Elements Typical to Sailor Moon, Involuntary Body Transformation, Mix of Anime and Manga, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please observe all warnings in chapter notes, Reincarnation, that's the difference between physical attacks and regularly vaporizing the enemy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22276600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HybrisAnaideia/pseuds/HybrisAnaideia
Summary: Where exactly did the word "Imperium " come from?
Series: Aurea Crystalli Dei Virtutis [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617805
Comments: 82
Kudos: 107





	1. Déjà Rencontré

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Next Right Thing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21927220) by [AislingRoisin (JayBird345)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayBird345/pseuds/AislingRoisin). 



> Due to beta-ing for Aisling, this crawled its way out of my head like Athena from Zeus. They can claim responsibility for this.

Hisayo wished that school would finally end. It had been hell the first time going through it, but now it was even worse. She was _bored_ all day long, so long as it wasn’t Japanese or Math class. Not even the pop quiz that had been handed out today had phased her, despite how most of her class had groaned when the teacher announced it.

At least their teacher had finally finished grading them, meaning she could get her quiz and go home. Hisayo knew she’d aced it, no question about that; after all, she wasn’t Tsukino Usagi. Seriously, the teen gave blondes everywhere a bad name with how stupid she could be. Not to mention how she cried over anything and everything, tripped over air, and screeched like a pterodactyl at the slightest offense.

“Chi-chan! Wait up!”

Hisayo only managed to keep the automatic frown from sliding into a scowl by a thin hair, and quickly walked off with her quiz in hand. That was another thing about the blonde that she hated. The dumbass not only had gotten her name wrong since they’d started having a class together two years ago, she had the gall to give her a nickname. Tsukino didn’t have the qualifications to call her by her first name, let alone something like a cutesy nickname just because they lived in the same neighborhood.

The further away she got from the blonde ditz, the better Hisayo felt, and the more she once again felt she had been too harsh on the teen. For all of Tsukino’s many, many faults, she was a kid. A kid who likely had an undiagnosed learning disability of some kind, which combined with her inability to focus and terrible memory… Then again, Hisayo reminded herself in displeasure, Tsukino seemed to have none of these problems if there was a pretty person involved. 

_I swear, Tsukino is one of the horniest people I’ve ever met._

Stuffing the useless English quiz into her bag, Hisayo once more concluded that Tsukino must have exchanged a great deal of her past life’s accumulated virtue to land a best friend like Osaka Naru. Osaka constantly took care of Tsukino, acting as her voice of reason and yanking her out of trouble. Hisayo had to wonder what Osaka got out of that friendship, truly she did. It always looked like she was merely an unpaid babysitter for a childish teen who’d naively take candy from men in white vans.

_Osaka will probably be an experienced mother by the time she hits adulthood at this rate._

Breezing through the school gates, and still leaving Tsukino behind in the dust, Hisayo idly sent up a prayer for Osaka. Maybe today Tsukino wouldn’t scandalize a small horde of people on her way home, and thus force Osaka to deal with it. Hisayo could still remember one particularly bad day, during finals last year, where Tsukino had walked into five telephone polls, crashed into two salarymen carrying coffee, and was caught stuffing her poor exam into the trash by an extremely loud granny.

Hisayo, as always, was walking in front when this was happening. She didn’t need to see it when Tsukino was loud enough to wake the dead. 

But, even now, Hisayo couldn’t help but notice Tsukino. No matter how much she wanted to ignore the girl she couldn’t. She was still listening for the clumsy ditz as she walked home, despite trying to keep away from her. It really was irritating, especially on days like today when the dreams had been particularly bad.

This morning, the dark circles beneath her eyes had nearly looked like makeup. Even with the concealer that she had been forced to pick up for weeks like this, it still was a little bit visible. And worst of all, everything tasted like lemons after having to eat three of the damn things to keep herself awake today.

_I miss the dreams where "I" was a diplomat in some strange, fantastical palace. Those were at worst just incredibly irritating instead of…_

Hisayo was startled out of her thoughts, and nearly slid reflexively into a stance, at the familiar screeching of a certain blonde menace came from behind her. Hisayo turned to see what exactly had Tsukino _this_ upset, only to catch Tsukino sprinting in front of her as she wailed about “He’s such a jerk!”

Curious to see what Tsukino had done now, Hisayo fully turned around to see what the situation was. There was no one on the street but a young man, horribly dressed in purple pleated pants, a green jacket, and a tight black shirt. Hisayo gave him a disgusted one over, offended by his fashion, only to freeze when her yellow eyes locked with his blue ones. 

A violent, horrible sensation erupted in her heart, and her body seemed to chill and burn at the very sight of him. Great waves of rage, grief, and bittersweet nostalgia battered at her, and Hisayo desperately closed her eyes as she tried to keep the world from spinning. These strange, foreign emotions quieted without his appearance spurring them on, and Hisayo gasped as her heart began to seethe with resentment and hatred.

When she finally felt calm enough to open her eyes, the man was gone. There was no sign of him on the street and Hisayo was grateful for it. Gathering her mass of loose, orange-red hair, Hisayo fished for a heavy-duty scrunchy to gather the ridiculously long tresses into a ponytail. With her hair in the ponytail, she could now feel the breeze cooling her sweat-soaked spine.

 _Whatever the hell that was, I don’t like it._ She thought to herself unhappily, turning back around to continue walking home. She needed a shower now, and… Maybe to reconsider her dreams. The last time she had felt something similar had been in those strange dreams.

Strolling up to her door, she retrieved her key while noting that Tsukino had once again been locked outside. She was wailing like the world was ending, begging to be let back inside, and Hisayo prayed that they’d let her soon. Tsukino had a pair of lungs on her that could be heard from inside Hisayo’s house, and last time this had happened they had made her stay out until dark.

 _I wish they’d stop doing this,_ She repeated to herself in familiar irritation as she stepped inside and went to the shower, _She’s thick as a brick, but what the hell does this do besides make her and the neighborhood unhappy? Shouldn’t her parents have a better way to discipline her? Or better yet, actually, get her tested for the learning disability I’m sure she has._

But she knew they wouldn’t change how they handled Tsukino. Ever since she had moved out of her parents’ old home (legally unable to sell it yet, even if she could purchase a new house) and moved here two years ago, they kept to the script: Tsukino failed a test, got shoved outside to wail, and was only let in after they felt she had been punished. Hisayo really didn’t know how they weren’t too embarrassed to face their neighbors after constantly doing this.

Hisayo exited her shower needing to pick up yet more shampoo and conditioner and shrugged on a terrycloth bathrobe before moving to her office area. She kept all her completed dream journals here, despite having most of them burned into her head, along with all her school materials. 

It was one of the perks of being a filthy rich orphan; you got an entire house to yourself.

Sitting down in her chair with a small pile of journals, Hisayo resigned herself to looking through her transcriptions and thoughts for the rest of the night. She needed to know why something so alien had happened to her, and if it was related to the dreams that had plagued her for most of her second life.

Of course, all to the oh-so-lovely background music of Tsukino’s howls. Joy. 


	2. Presque vu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This probably would have been done sooner if, uh, I hadn't fallen into bad habits and start focusing on stuff *way* too far in the future. Seriously, what can I do with alternate storylines this early...

_Life here began in the Galaxy Cauldron, where all souls spring forth. Far, far from here it lies, and you were meant to go there. Newly born into this universe, small and pathetic, shivering in fear, you were flying past me when I gathered you close._

_Strangely made, in a fashion foreign to me, but perfect for my needs. You, who died, listen to my story…_

_When humans were still struggling to find themselves, they arrived. Battered and bleeding, they fled an enemy too powerful for them to defeat. They settled on the moon, and all would have been well if not for what followed. The Silver Imperium expanded beyond the moon, stretching out their greedy hands to the planets who owed me fealty. Each Crystal was coerced into bonding with these ungrateful strangers, rededicated to the foreign Crystal of a destroyed planet they brought with them._

_Such was the gratitude of the Silver Imperium, and as it became the Silver Millennium it sinned against me again…B̴̯̥̺̪̗͈̓̒̍̋̅͝ų̴̮̔̈́̑̂͝ẗ̸̡̠̘͎̅̓͐̾͒ ̸̺̞̳͉̙̞̂̈́̓͝ÿ̵̲̳̻̝͔̭̬̹͛̊͋͌̕ö̵͕̼̯́̀͛͐͗̔̎́͝ư̸̧̘̜͎̯̟̝̘̖̋͐̏̽̃̏ ̵̳̘̮̦̗͗̏̽̎̒͗͐̔͝h̴̡͊̾̈́̂̋̊̕á̷͇̗͙͍͘͠ͅv̵̜̜̈͜ẽ̶͎͓̘͙͕̟̼̤̑̽͌̆́̌͝ͅ ̴̙̙̿̆h̵̤̯̱̫͌̍̈̿̑͗͘ë̸̟̭̺͉̈͐͗̒̅̀̾a̷̗͊͗́́̊̚r̵̡̧͔̩̣̪̠̼̂̃̑͆̋̏̎͠d̷̡͚̯̹̺̳͚̬̙̎ ̶͍̟̼̤͙͕͇̰͇̒͆̇̌̚͠o̷͙̻̠͚͎̅̀̈́̈́f̸̧̛̗̙̗̪̥̳̞͙͗̎͝ ̵͓͕̙͎̙͇̟͓͎͆̂̾͑́̄͘̕ẗ̴̹͙̼̬͉̝͔̳́̋͑̿͒͛̒h̸̦̬͔͂ḭ̷̰̙̦̰̻͆̈́̉s̶̡̧̨̨͍̖̭͗_

_I cannot allow the past to repeat. ✡︎□︎◆︎❒︎ ■︎♋︎❍︎♏︎, you are not of this universe. You are not bound by Fate, nor by the mistakes of a past life. My once chosen, I have repudiated for his transgression. My Crystal needs a bearer, one who will not bend before the Moon. If you take up my Crystal, you will be mine ever more. I shall hold you fast against Fate and Death, give unto you all my power and protection. Our fortunes will be intertwined, and you will never be adrift again…_

* * *

  
  


Hisayo woke with a gasp, mind blank as the familiar echo of a voice beyond humanity rang in her ears. It had been a while since she had had this particular dream, and she hadn’t missed it. Every time it left her rattled, jittery in her own skin, as her mind seemed to be fuzzing with static. Not once in her second life had she remembered it, despite knowing it was the _exact same_ dream. Only this year had she been able to wake remembering there had been a voice beyond the limitations of humanity, and it still made her shiver in worry.

Climbing out of bed, Hisayo began to mechanically remove her sheets for a washing. Nearly every strange dream had her sweating like she had run a marathon, so it was impossible to go back to sleep. Wrinkling her nose at the odor, she tromped downstairs with her bundle of sweaty sheets and put them in the washing machine. She then removed her pajamas and threw them in as well, starting the washer as she went to the kitchen. 

On her nearly unused kitchen dining table, there was a very large bowl filled to the brim with lemons. Hisayo grabbed one with a grimace and, as exhaustion filled her soul, she took a bite of the raw lemon. Intense sourness filled her mouth along with regret, and her mouth scrunched up at the familiar taste.

_I’m not going to be able to taste anything but lemons at this rate…_

Now feeling much more alert, Hisayo polished off the lemon with mechanical experience before going to take yet another shower. Someday, she swore, she would find a better way to deal with her dreams. 

* * *

  
  


It’s been a long, bizarre couple of weeks for Hisayo. 

Tokyo, particularly her area of Tokyo, has suddenly started having honest-to-god monster issues. Nowadays, every now and then, ominous happenings heard about in rumors are revealed to have been due to monstrosities. Of course, they’re only revealed since these monsters are defeated by someone calling themselves “Sailor Moon,” as some of the victims reported.

All of this is making her class time really weird. It’s all everyone talks about now, afraid that some strange thing is really due to a monster attack. The rumor mill has never been quite so militant about fact checking and coordinating information dispersal, but now the school is remarkably unified in their desire not to be victims. Osaka seems to be one of the ringleaders in this trend, which makes sense to Hisayo; apparently she’s been at ground zero for several of the incidents.

But the worst part of the entire thing, besides monsters actually existing, is that the entire thing reminds her of _something_. It’s always on the tip of her tongue, a vague sense of familiarity that comes to mind when she hears about it. Hisayo knows she’s pushing forty with both lives combined, but it really irritates her to know she’s already having memory issues before she’s even finished puberty.

_That, or the induced insomnia is finally having some lasting side effects…_

Hisayo however, didn’t get reborn just to die before she finally could legally drink again. She increased her sessions with her Silat teacher to four times a week, which her instructor only allowed due to the monster attacks. 

“I don’t have any hope for you to actually fight a monster, but hopefully you could surprise it enough to escape.”

“It’s useful either way Candranaya-san, and I’ve been asking to increase our sessions anyways.”

The stern woman gave her a familiar judging look, one that silently called her a rich brat. “I have a life, unlike some. And you’re still growing, too much intense exercise might permanently damage something.”

Hisayo once again wondered exactly what the woman did, and why she had come to _Japan_ of all places. But not once in the eight years since she had begun had Candranaya-san given her so much as a hint. She was a true professional.

Gathering her book-bag, Hisayo bowed to her instructor in farewell and stepped outside to find it pouring. She sighed at the sight, as the weather forecast hadn’t predicted rain, and rummaged through her bag for her emergency umbrella. Opening the plain black umbrella, she started making her way home as the rain rattled against the cloth.

Hisayo had walked for five minutes without seeing a soul on the street, only to turn a corner and be slammed into by someone. Moving with the momentum to let the potential attacker fall to the ground, and getting her vital organs away from danger, Hisayo only had begun to raise her leg for an axe kick when the man began to scream for mercy.

Watching as he rapidly kowtowed and begged, Hisayo cautiously lowered her leg as she gave the trenchcoat wearing man a look of disgust.

“Please, please don’t kill me!”

“The hell? Get up and stop making a scene, you’re embarrassing the both of us.” She retorted immediately, before bending down to bodily haul the man onto his feet. 

He shuffled back from her once he was standing, hands wringing nervously as he breathed hard, “I-I need to go, I can’t stay! It’ll catch me!”

She gave him a confused look at the babbling. “What?”

“It’s gonna kill me!” He squeaked out, and Hisayo immediately took action. Grabbing his arm again before he could bolt, she dragged him to the side and in front of an alley. He put up no resistance, too panicked from whatever was hunting him, but she could tell by the muscle definition in his arm that he couldn’t have resisted even if he wanted to.

“You, start talking. What’s hunting you and why is it hunting you?”

The man gave her a wild look, before it almost visibly clicked on his face the realization that she was taking him seriously. He looked at her incredulously, before something in her expression had him pull himself together. “It sounds crazy, but you need to believe me-”

Hisayo interrupted him with a dry tone, “Tokyo has been having a monster issue, as anyone who’s been paying attention should know.”

He looked vaguely embarrassed for a moment before he sagged in relief and started to tell her his story, “It all started when I left the recording studio…”

As Hisayo listened incredulously, she felt this man had unbelievable luck. The monster he had run into must be the most incompetent, oddly non-violent one in existence. By all rights he should have been dead before ever running into her. “You know you should be hiding right? Or staying somewhere too public for it to make a move. Sailor Moon only comes out at night apparently."

“Sailor Moon? Who the hell is that?”

She gave the pianist a pitying look, “You’re not that well informed, are you? She’s the one the previous victims credit for destroying monsters.” 

He once again looked vaguely embarrassed, but she had apparently calmed him to the point he had recovered his spine. “Whatever. I can’t do either since I have to be at my job tonight, otherwise I’ll wish I _was_ dead.”

“Where do you work?”

“At a jazz club near here.” Oh, she knew of that one! It was pretty close to her Silat training. “Do you want me to walk you over?” She asked him politely, not intending on taking no for an answer; she didn’t need another thing to lose sleep over, and letting him go without knowing what happened to him would do that.

“I’m sorry, but would you? There’s no one around…” He asked with a hint of his earlier panic shining though. Deciding she didn't want to calm him down again, Hisayo quickly replied, “Yeah. It’s why I offered.”

He sighed in relief at her answer, smiling tentatively at her, “Thank you so much. By the way, my name is Amade Yusuke.”

Hisayo nodded at him as she shared her umbrella, “Mine is Yonaga Hisayo. Let’s move quickly.”

They did exactly that, power walking to the point of being just shy of outright jogging. By the time she had walked him to the club though, it was getting dark out. And Hisayo didn’t fancy walking home alone at night, especially knowing a monster was out on the prowl.

“Hey, Amade-san. I need a favor.”

“What is it Yonaga-san?” 

She wondered for a moment how old he thought she was, using _san_ without hesitation, before asking “Can you hide me somewhere till you get off? My house is so far I’d be walking through the night, and I don’t want to walk alone through Tokyo tonight. So if you could give me lift...?”

Amade blanched slightly at the implied reason why she didn’t want to stroll through Tokyo, before nodding “Yes, definitely. I’ll speak to my boss about the situation. After I get off, I’ll drive you home Yonaga-san.”

He then ushered her into the prepping club, and escorted her to his boss. After speaking with the man in private, he introduced her to “Tokiomi-san” and pointed out where the bathrooms were before saying “I’ll arrange some snacks and drinks for you Yonaga-san. Don’t worry about paying, I’ll cover it.”

Bowing politely at Tokiomi-san as she thanked him for his understanding, she then smiled at Amade for the first time. “Thank you, that’s very thoughtful.”

He brightened at her smile, and asked if she had any allergies with more confidence than he’d had since she met him. After getting her answer, “None”, he walked off and left her to the office. Hisayo settled in to work on her homework, and was able to finish everything well before its due date out of boredom.

She had to give Amade props though. He had excellent tastes in snacks, even if the orange juice reminded her of lemons with its citrus taste. And after lingering to listen to his work while walking to the bathroom, she could also say he was pretty talented in music as well. Once she got back from the bathroom, Hisayo then cleaned up her snack tray and glass. While she couldn’t take it to the kitchen - as she would be seen by someone, and then cause the club trouble for having a minor inside - she could make sure whoever would be sent to fetch it wouldn’t need to clean up after her. 

With everything done and cleaned up, Hisayo stuffed her homework in her bag before laying out on the couch in the office. 

_Hopefully I won’t nap long enough to dream…_

* * *

“Yonaga-san? I’m done with my shift.” 

Hisayo jerked awake at the soft voice, finding Amade standing over the couch with a tired look. Her dreams had been unexpectedly quiet, so she was actually feeling refreshed for once. Hisayo spared a moment of self-pity for being surprised at being well-rested, before asking “What time is it Amade-san?”

He picked up her book-bag for her as she swung to her feet, “It’s a little past 1 AM. Tokiomi-san couldn’t let me go home any earlier tonight since there was no one else scheduled to perform.” 

Hisayo shrugged at his rueful expression, gesturing for him to lead on “Don’t worry. You provided me with some food, and I actually got a decent nap out of this. So, do you have a plan for after dropping me of?”

“I think I’m going to do like you suggested. I’m going to find a busy public area and hope that Sailor Moon is out tonight.”

Hisayo nodded at his back, glad he wasn’t panicking again “Good. If she doesn’t show up though, I’d try filing a report with the district police station. They might be able to get in contact with her.”

Amade opened the door to the dark parking lot, walking over to his car as he said brightly “That’s not a bad idea, the police-”

And then the monster appeared, and Amade screamed so shrilly that Hisayo’s ears rang.

The monster was batlike in appearance, but something about it looked _unnatural._ Halfway between a woman and a gigantic bat, it seemed as if it had been man-made. Every part of it that appeared to be of bat origin seemed to be grafted on, and it only made it worse when the thing bared its fangs at them.

“Give me the cassette!” It screamed with the voice of a woman, spreading its wings out threateningly.

Hisayo looked desperately at Amade, hoping he had the cassette. It was a long shot, but it was _possible_ the monster would leave once it had it. They had to gamble on it, because who knew if Sailor Moon would show up in time!

But the demand silenced the whimpering pianist, and he straightened his back to glare at the monster’s flat, green face. He actually managed to look it straight in the eye, ignoring the slit pupils and everything else, before boldly saying, “Never! This cassette holds my love! I won’t let you have it!”

_I should have let the son of a bitch rot._

It chittered like a bat at his audacity, high and piercing in rage, before it flashed forward almost too fast for Hisayo’s eyes to see. Lightning fast, faster even than her instructor could move, it slashed down across Amade’s torso with wickedly sharp claws. Amade didn’t even have time to scream before he collapsed to the ground, and it pulled its hand to its face and licked off the blood with an inhumanly long tongue. 

Hisayo felt all her hair stand on end at its action, and all she could do was sink into a low stance. It was fast, too fast for her to run from or even have a hope of fighting one-on-one. She could only hope that it wouldn’t pay her any mind-

“You! You will feed me!” 

Hisayo didn’t have time to blanch at its words, reflexively throwing herself in the direction of the parking lot exit as it launched itself at her. Rolling as she hit the ground, years of training paid off as she immediately rolled herself upright and started sprinting. There was no time to spare worrying about Amade possibly bleeding out; she had to survive first.

The street the parking lot exited out onto was deserted, and no cars drove by as Hisayo frantically ran from the monster. A damp chill pervaded the air, explaining why no one was out despite most clubs closing right about now, but all Hisayo could do was inwardly curse at it. No bystanders meant there was no chance of the monster trying to go after anyone else, but that also meant she had no way of getting help.

A sharp ringing on the edge of her hearing had her dive into the deserted traffic lanes, and Hisayo watched from the corner of her eye as the sidewalk cratered under what she guessed was a sound-based attack. 

Immediately getting on her feet and running away, Hisayo frantically tried to think of a plan that would see her survive the night. _It’s fast, strong, has sound attacks, and can fucking fly! What the fuck do I do?!_

But she had to dodge another incoming sound attack, and she wasn’t experienced enough in lethal situations to be able to come up with an impromptu plan for something so far out of her weight class. All she could do was run, dodge, and hope the monster either got bored or Sailor Moon finally showed her face.

A high cackle rang out above her head, a freakish mixture of woman and bat, and Hisayo once again dodged the incoming attack… Only to feel thick, sturdy feet wrap themselves around her ribcage and legs.

_Oh no._

There’s no time for cursing or fighting, as the monster has them climbing into the air too rapidly. Hisayo wriggles anyways, trying to find a way to escape until her wriggling lets her see just how very, very far down the ground is now. 

_What exactly is the terminal velocity for humans again? Or how high a fall I can survive?_

The problem is, she’s absolutely sure she’s far above the maximum height from which she could merely not die _immediately_ on impact. Which means she now needs to wriggle out of the thing’s grip, without falling, and cling onto it in a way that it can’t shake her off. Hisayo tries, using every bit of her training and sheer desire to live in order to get results... but she gets nothing beyond making it laugh again.

And then it lets go.

For a moment, Hisayo feels weightless in the air and she looks at the grinning monster in shock. Then gravity takes hold and she’s falling, screaming in fear as her heart thunders with her furious terror. 

_I don’t want to die! Not again! I’ve barely lived!_

_I shall hold you fast against Fate and Death, give unto you all my power and protection. Call out-_

“Earth Prism Power, Make Up!” Hisayo shouts, almost without any conscious input, and the world bursts into brilliant golden color. Her clothes vanish in a burst of light, and glowing, golden ribbons emerge from the radiance and begin to wrap themselves about her. Her legs, her arms, and her torso are caressed by them before Hisayo snaps out of the shock that held her frozen. 

Almost beside herself with confusion and lingering fear, she struggles against the ribbons’ attempts to tighten about her and something… shatters. The brilliant golden color that had painted over the world vanished, and Hisayo found herself once more falling helplessly through the air. But now, those same gorgeous golden ribbons fluttered madly in the air, streaming out to give her a comet’s tail. 

There was no more time to take in the ribbons before she slammed into the road with enough force to crater and buckle the road for meters. It was lucky that the night had been so deserted, as the shock-wave or being too close to the impact might have seriously hurt someone. As it was, Hisayo was shell shocked to find that there wasn’t anyone injured; not even herself.

Looking up into the dark night sky, from her position in her impact crater, Hisayo could see the monster swooping down in broad wing strokes. It took her a moment to actually work through the lingering shock to process what she was seeing, but the instant she did Hisayo flipped herself upright. The monster was nearly on her by the time she was on her feet, and Hisayo went with her trained response to something rushing at her: getting the hell out of the way.

Pushing off to the side, Hisayo nearly shrieked again as her muscles responded with superhuman strength and speed. She cleared her crater with ease, hurtling for meters along the ruined street before she landed on unmarred asphalt with unsettling ease and grace. 

Hisayo looked down at her body in complete confusion, taking in the ribbons that loosely wrapped around her arms and legs before trailing out far behind her. It looked to still be her body, except for the palm-sized golden crystal that seemed to be emerging from the top of her sternum. Countless golden ribbons seemed to originate from it, only to stream out far behind her with no perceptible weight or drag to them.

“What the hell are you?!” The monster screamed from its spot in her crater, and Hisayo decided that she might as well see if her new… condition could contend with the monster.

_Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, just feel your body…_

Bending her knees for a lunge, Hisayo launched herself towards the monster like a speeding meteor. She had a microsecond to take in how its eyes were wide in shock, before her punch landed on where its kidney should be. It felt no different than hitting a punching bag, yet the monster flew backwards into the wall of a building along the street. Hisayo followed her target, not allowing it a moment to regain its senses as she followed her style’s approach of a flurry of vicious strikes. 

Left kidney, right kidney, diaphragm, grab left primary wing bone and _wrench_ \- It shatters instead of dislocates. Duck under flailing arms, spin out to the side and kick its feet out from under it. Bring heel down in a sharp strike on its rib cage, note how it caves slightly, and move for the finisher. Grab the jaw, avoid the snapping teeth, and back of the head. Now twist, sharp and hard- Oh. 

Hisayo stared down at the bloody, ruined mess of the monster’s neck, feeling disconnected from her body. She noted distantly that she had nearly twisted the head entirely off. With a little more force, she would have.

Removing her hands from the corpse, Hisayo stepped away from it; just in case. She looked at her hands, looking at how not a bit of the blood had stuck to her or the ribbons.

_I should… See if Amade is alive. Right. I need to see if he needs help._

She felt herself shiver, the sensation of cold finally hitting her as the adrenaline began to wear off, and knew she couldn’t be seen like this. Hisayo tugged at the ribbons on her hands, trying to pull them off without any result. They slipped through her fingers like they were illusions when she did, and panic began to creep through the numbness at the thought this was permanent. 

Looking at how the golden crystal seemed to be the origin of the ones on her chest, her fingers scrambled to pull it off. Hisayo felt it pull against her skin, pull like she was trying to pry out a body part, before something seemed to _release._ That brilliant golden color blotted out the world again for a moment, and the ribbons vanished into sparks of light as Hisayo’s clothes reformed on her. The moment the last stitch of her clothing was in place, the color vanished and so did the crystal.

She stared at herself, and felt no different from when she was haloed by ribbons. 

_… Amade needs my help,_ she reminded herself, and she turned away from the corpse. Running to the parking lot, she didn’t look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, if I was better at making work skins, the Voice would have a different font to distinguish itself with. Like it does on my source document...


	3. Evermore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't hold myself back from posting, despite Ais pleading for me to

Much to Hisayo’s surprise, she didn’t have to run far to find Amade. Lying down on the sidewalk, at about a fourth of the way to the parking lot, she found him unconscious. A quick check of his pulse told her he was still alive, and glancing at his chest told her that the stupid man really had the Devil’s own luck. His injury, the one that she had thought was at the very least critical, was very shallow despite how long it was. The monster hadn’t punctured the stomach cavity at all, or even sliced through anything important so far as Hisayo could tell. 

His only real danger now would be blood loss, and Hisayo already had a supply of makeshift bandages on hand. Pulling off his trench coat with determination, she just had to make them. Hisayo very pointedly ignored how easy it was to tear the study coat into long bandages, telling herself it had to be due to the damage or her extensive training. As she tied the bandages around his wounded torso as best as she could, her thoughts eventually turned to the fact he was _here_. 

When she had fled the monster, Hisayo had abandoned Amade with ease. Her life came first in any dangerous situation and she had found it justified to leave someone so stupid to the whims of fortune. He had, after all, put them both squarely in the line of fire for a cassette tape; something that could be replaced. So, even thinking that there was a very significant chance that Amade would die without immediate help, Hisayo had not hesitated to put herself first. She’d make the exact same choice again, without hesitation, but...

_He fought through the pain and came after me, in spite of how much the monster terrified him_

It gave her a complicated feeling, almost guilty yet absolutely not. But she could think about this, and grill Amade for his stupidity, later. 

Picking up his dead weight, Hisayo knelt and draped his right arm over her shoulders. Using her leg muscles to lift herself, Hisayo stood with ease and felt Amade’s right thigh come to rest against her right shoulder. She remembered enough from her long ago first aid class to know that his thigh being against her right shoulder indicated that she had executed the Fireman Carry correctly. 

She adjusted his weight distribution for a moment, before walking briskly in the direction of the jazz club. She didn’t dare to run with his wounds, but she could keep her gait smooth at a fast walk. 

Even if there was no one left from closing up, Hisayo knew that a little way beyond the club was a 24-hour gas station. One way or the other, she and Amade were going to be fine.

* * *

There had been no one left in the club by the time she had arrived, but the gas station hadn’t let her down. The clerk called 119 for her, and she went with Amade to the hospital. Hisayo had been a little surprised the clerk also hadn’t called the cops on her; maybe they’d just sensed she was a good person?

The police did get involved after they arrived at the hospital however, as the nurse filling out Hisayo’s description of the monster - there was no telling if the monster had bat-based diseases and all, so it was best they knew as much about it as possible - had told her it was mandatory. As Amade was unconscious, and still receiving treatment, Hisayo had dealt with the police as much as possible. She answered how she knew Amade, described the attack and where the police could investigate the crime scenes. 

“I didn’t see much of the battle. When Sailor Moon arrived, she took the monster’s attention off me and I kept running. I heard a scream a little while later, but I only stopped when Sailor Moon called out to me that she’d killed it as she ran along the roof-line. I went back for Amade then, and found him near the battle site. I’m not a doctor and I didn’t know how much blood he’d lost, so I then picked him up and went looking for help.”

Officer Honda looked a little frustrated with the scarcity of detail she gave him, but Hisayo knew she didn’t appear to be anything but “vaguely sorry she couldn’t help, yet not ashamed she ran." After all, that was exactly how she felt.

He then tried another question with a exasperated tone, “How did you know this woman was Sailor Moon?”

“I don’t, but is there anyone else who can kill the monsters?”

“...Alright then, I think that concludes your involvement Yonaga-san. I can drive you home if you’d like. It’s the least I can do after the night you’ve had.”

Hisayo shook her head, “I want to make sure nothing’s wrong with Amade-san. He came after me officer, I can’t just leave him.”

Officer Honda looked exhausted at her reply, but he left to speak with one of the nurses. Hisayo was pleased at that, and the fact he hadn’t even considered she could be the one behind killing the monster. He didn’t come back, and Hisayo settled into her chair in Amade’s room for a long stay.

Of course, much to her surprise, barely an hour after he had been wheeled into the room, she saw him waking up. Was he resistant to whatever they used to keep him under? She’d have to let the nurse know the next time she saw her.

“…Wh-where am I?”

Hisayo got up out of her seat, moving over to his bedside as Amade began to try and leverage himself up in a panic. “Amade-san, we’re in the hospital. You’re being treated for your injuries.”

His eyes widened at the sight of her, looking stunned, before a suspiciously awed look stole across his face. “ _You_ …Yonaga-san!”

Hisayo moved to snip any wild and possibly accurate ideas he might be having, “Sailor Moon saved us Amade-san. She killed the monster.”

He blinked at her, before saying “O-oh I see. I _see._ ”

Hisayo really hoped he didn’t see any sort of connection, but she had to unhappily admit that where she had found him unconscious _was_ close enough that he could have seen what happened.

“Cool. Now, Amade-san, what the _fuck_ was that! You risked both of our lives for a cassette tape?!”

He flinched from her shout, sinking into his bed as he mumbled “Yonaga-san you have to understand, the cassette is full of my feelings…”

Hisayo very much did not understand, and made that clear to the cringing man, “What the hell makes it so special?! You could replace it!”

“I can’t!”

“ _Why?!_ ”

“It’s the only copy!”

Amade then explained that the cassette was full of music inspired by and for the love of his life, who he had yet to even ask on a date, and he hadn’t made another copy yet. He’d only finished the recording today, and most of the sheet music had apparently been destroyed in an accident earlier that week. Without the sheet music, if the cassette was lost or destroyed the music would be permanently lost.

Hisayo could have spit nails at the idiot when a sound of shattering glass came from the door. Turning to see what the hell was going on, she found the ruined fragments of a vase, split roses all over the floor, and a brunette woman covering her mouth with tears in her eyes.

“Akiko-chan?!” Amade said in a strangled squeak as his eyes landed on the brunette. The woman then let out a loud sob, stepping forward with a “Yusuke, I can’t believe it!” as she came to stand at his bedside.

_Wait a second, don’t tell me…Did that bastard know she was there?! Did he just use me to impress her?!_

Hisayo wanted to leave, as she was being forced to become the third wheel in the background of a live Hallmark movie. She didn’t want to so much as see a hair of Amade Yusuke again after this, especially as he _proposed_ to Akiko and she just agreed! They weren’t even dating before this!

_They’ve seriously forgotten my existence here. I am literally on the other side of your bed Amade!_

“Akiko, if it wasn’t for Yonaga-san I wouldn’t be here. She helped me escape the monster by drawing its attention.”

No, Hisayo was very sure that wasn’t how it happened. Not at all.

“Oh,” The woman sobbed, wet eyes gleaming with gratitude and surprise that Hisayo was still here during her emotional moment with Amade, “Thank you for saving my Yusuke, Yonaga-san! We’ll never forget it!”

Hisayo doesn’t want to tell the crying woman that she wishes they would forget it. She might come over and cry all over her then, instead of staying safely on the other side of the hospital bed.

“…You’re welcome. Now, Akiko-san” If she knew the woman’s surname she’d be using it, but asking for it would just open her up to more conversation attempts “Since you’re here and Amade-san is awake, I’ll be heading home now.”

Akiko smiled, and returned to her lovey-dovey world with Amade as Hisayo made a break for it. The moment she was out of the room, she flagged down a passing nurse and passed along the update in Amade’s condition. The nurse immediately beelined to the door, as Hisayo was sure everyone had questions for him, and she went to call a taxi.

_Well, that teaches me to be a good Samaritan…_

* * *

Going home had seemed like a good idea. But the moment she had sat down on her couch, trying to process just what exactly had happened to her today – She killed it! It was harder to pull up a dandelion than it was to kill it, and oh God, what was happening to her – when she heard the voice for the first time while awake.

It spoke, and Hisayo futilely clapped her hands to her ears and screamed at the pain.

 _My bearer, my champion, my Power… Our fortunes and fates are intertwined. Evermore we are one, so_ **_do not fight me!_ ** _You must prevent the sins of the Silver Imperium from killing us both!_

Thunder, the roar of a wildfire, the crashing of the sound barrier breaking, there was no sound that she knew of that was so loud and _directly inside her head_. There was no escaping, no lessening or muffing, and Hisayo only wished it’d stop.

_Call out your words-!_

_Anything to end this,_ Hisayo thought, as the words crawled out of her throat without any choice on her part, “Earth…Eternal…Make…UP!”

No, those weren’t right, were they? Hadn’t they been different?

_I vowed to give unto you all my power and protection._

The golden light was thick and blinding this time, like she had been tossed into a metallic sun as her clothes dissolved into energy. Golden ribbons wrapped around her again, and the more they did the less her head hurt despite the voice continuing.

 _You cannot save them;_ **_I_ ** _cannot save them. End it once and for all, my Power, and we will return them to the Galaxy Cauldron._

The golden ribbons tightened around her before transforming into an outfit, and Hisayo felt like a thick cloth had been ripped away from all her senses. The blinding light was now pleasant, the voice rang sweetly where it had been agonizing, and she felt horrifyingly strong. Strong enough to crush stars between her fingers, strong enough she could never be stopped.

 _Someday my Power, someday…The Silver Imperium fled from_ **_that_ ** _after all._

Light shattered around her as the change ended, and Hisayo had no time to take in the changes as the floor beneath her feet vanished. Falling into darkness, Hisayo wondered what was happening and if this madness would ever end.

_Ever more, my Power. We will not end._


	4. Hellacious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To cover my bases, here is a broad spectrum trigger warning: this chapter contains explicit violence and slaughter, with a small mention of monsters screwing. There is no graphic description of sexual acts.

There was no light here, no breeze or sky. It is absolutely dark, and Hisayo’s new eyes could see through it in perfect clarity as she fell into the roiling, seething mass of bodies. Stunned from her fall, Hisayo laid there in the trampled, squelching filth for a moment as the horde of monstrosities screamed above her. They fought and tore at one another, eating whatever they could whether living or dead, fucking like animals, all as they screamed and screamed and _screamed._

Then they noticed her at their feet, and Hisayo permanently learned to never, ever be stunned into stillness again. 

Dozens of them threw themselves on her before she could blink, clawing, biting, and still madly screaming as they tried to tear her apart. It hurt; even if they couldn’t break her skin, she still _felt it._ Hisayo screamed back at them, terrified, and trying to fight them off. Her first wild punch blasted the entire crowd off her, and the falling monsters only attracted the attention of the rest. She had enough time to get to her feet, but that was all.

Once she was on her feet, Hisayo found that her body was beyond her. Like someone had taken a person who was used to biking and stuck them in a jet that could approach light-speed. In mid-flight. Her strikes were instantly lethal, and threw her into nearby unbreakable cages from the improper balance she had. A dodge sent her flying into the air, only to find she had to fall into a new, uncleared sea of monsters. 

Hesitancy only hurt her, trying to run got her nowhere, and the monsters would never spare her if they could figure out how to actually hurt her. Hisayo could only kill and kill and kill, with no space to rest or do anything else. There was nothing but the fight, and learning how to use this body so she could _stop hurting._

* * *

Practice makes perfect, and pain is the best motivator. 

Hisayo loses all grip on time as she tears her way through the unending seas of screaming monsters. There is only the next blow, the next move, learning to make this perfectly lethal body work in accordance with her will. Some part of her wonders if this is the kind of mindset her instructor spoke of, this absolute focus on killing in the most efficient, effortless method possible. The rest of her can only think of how to kill better.

She’s almost got perfect control of this body now, with only lingering issues of judging how much power she’s using in her attacks. The monsters just become viscera too easily for her to judge it, and makes it even harder to know if she’s truly striking killing blows with her martial arts. The increasing ease means though, she has space to actually think about what she’s doing. 

Hisayo learns quickly to not care, as the moment of an instinctive hesitation to strike only brought her pain.

* * *

Eventually, she slaughters her way into tougher monsters. These don’t merely scream, they laugh as they tear their kind apart like a child does an insect. 

The surprise of the sudden increase in ability sees her caught by the first, a massive paw burying itself in her long, unbound hair as it cackled at her. Hisayo screams at the monster, infuriated, disgusted, and horrified by the abomination touching her, and feels something inside her respond to her emotions. The smell of charred meat then cuts through the stench of this hell, and the monster trades cackles for screams of pain as it pulls away to show her it only has a blackened stump where its paw had been.

Hisayo launched herself at it, spinning into a kick that made use of the spike on her heel, and kills it. In the moment she has before anything else tries to attack her, she takes a look at her hair. It has a lustrous quality to it now - like it was a gemstone - and Hisayo now understands why this body had left her hair loose; it was a shield for her entire spine.

* * *

The next surprise comes when she surrounded by the tougher, laughing variant of the monsters. Crowd fighting does not come easily to Hisayo, as she never made it to the portion where her instructor deemed her ready to learn how to attack and defend against multiple enemies. Instead they had focused on one-on-one fights, and escaping and evading anything too strong or numerous to fight. Having to learn in real time, punctuated by bursts of pain when she managed poorly, was difficult.

_I need a way to manage this! I need more!_

_I hold you fast, my Power._

The sweet tones of the voice rang out like a crystalline bell, and Hisayo felt something within her _surge_ as dozens upon dozens of gold-black chains shot out of every surface she could see... And some out of thin air. She could feel them as they pierced, constricted, and forced the monsters to give her space. Hisayo then grimly smiled for the first time since she had fallen here; because if she felt them, they must come from her. And the lesson she was painfully learning, was that anything of hers was something she could master.

With all the murderous focus she had honed, she grasped hold of that feeling and told it to move. The chains rustled with a metallic cacophony, swirling around each of their victims until each was trapped within a chain-coffin. The monsters screamed within, scrambling to break out, but Hisayo left them. She wanted to see just how unbreakable these chains were, if they’d slacken if she stopped paying attention.

She raced out of her chains like an object approaching the sound barrier, tearing through the nearby swarm of lesser monsters without ever thinking about the chained monsters. With each blow, Hisayo tried to create and manipulate chains as well. It was difficult, as it added multitasking on top of managing a crowd fight, but with each time she learned a little more.

There was only the fight, only the next kill, so the time it took didn’t phase her any more. She progressed, she killed, she survived.

* * *

Hisayo sees her first Star Seed - or, rather, her first soul - here in this pit of hell.

She had just materialized an ugly, strange looking morning-star type of weapon, and reflexively smashed it into a monster as the voice rang in her ears.

_A tool, for now, until you learn how not to need it: The Lorn Star._

The moment it touched the monster, Hisayo could feel it activate. It was like holding a black hole on a stick, as it ripped away first the energy, then the life of the monster, and shunted it straight into her. Her veins simmered warmly with the infusion of raw, stolen strength, and the monster collapsed into dust the moment the last drop of energy was mercilessly ravaged from it. But a small, blackened gem fell into the dust pile, untouched by the energy drain. Something about the gem alarmed her, even after everything she had been through here, because it looked _wrong_ in a way she couldn’t articulate.

_That is a Star Seed, my Power. You would call it a soul. Do not let another monster eat it, as it will empower them by a magnitude._

Picking it up in her gloved hands as the chains kept a cordon around her, Hisayo felt a visceral revulsion by holding it. Just what the hell was she to _do_ with it?

_My Power, haven’t you realized yet? This dimension is our burden to oversee. Now…_

Hisayo listened as the voice continued to chime pleasantly, talking of things like Authority and how there was levels to this dimension, only to arrive at the main point after she had to resume the slaughter.

_You’ve broken the worst of the frenzy my Power. Now, demand to ascend._

Hisayo cleared a circle around herself as hope trickled in, using the Lorn Star as it was still her worst skill. Three more Star Seeds were revealed, and Hisayo scooped them up as chains rattled into place. With the four Seeds in hand, she turned her focus to this hell and demanded to be taken to the uppermost level. 

The chains did not move, as she disappeared without so much as a flash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahaha, and other heroes say they had "training from hell" amiright? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)>⌐■-■ (⌐ ͡■ ͜ʖ ͡■)


	5. Endings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aisling, my partner in crime and beta for this, keeps telling me I should pace myself. And that she's gonna knife me if I don't shine some hope in here soon. Hahaha.

The shocking contrast, as she suddenly emerged somewhere else, nearly had Hisayo staggering. This place was clean, free of monstrosities, and the ever-present screaming had quieted to a faint suggestion in the background. After all this time, struggling to survive...

_I made it..._

She laughed hysterically as she stood in an aisle between two luxuriously spacious prison cells. Hisayo felt like she had just clawed her way out of hell and she still couldn’t believe she’d done it. Instinctively she kept expecting to blink and find herself back in the filth, killing and slaughtering just to survive another moment.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Hisayo tried to stop laughing as she could feel herself on the verge of fainting from these emotions. The feel of the Lorn Star and the Seeds in her palms, they reminded her that it hadn’t ended. She hadn’t left this place at all; she’d just ascended to a higher level. As she remembered that, the laughter cut off. In this place, she couldn’t afford to shatter.

Regulating her breathing, Hisayo regained control of herself. She needed to know what was here and what to do with the Seeds. Once she was calm, she waited a few moments to see if the voice would speak. When it didn’t, Hisayo resigned herself to exploring.

Walking about the level was a revelation, as Hisayo had never had the chance to merely walk in this body. Every step was a delight with its fluidity and preciseness, and it made her feel as graceful as an Olympian gymnast. If this was how peak athletes felt, Hisayo finally understood how someone could dedicate their entire life to a sport. Silat was something she had sought out due to a need for control and to better defend herself. No matter how much she had enjoyed learning from her instructor, Hisayo had never considered dedicating her life to the art.

_If only the costs for this body weren’t so high._

As Hisayo moved about the new area, she found nothing living no matter how far she roamed. Whether in the cells or in the aisles running between them, there was nothing here except her. There weren’t even any skeletons to say there _had_ been someone once. However, it was odd once she started inspecting the cells themselves. Focusing in the same way that had seen her ascend to this area, Hisayo stepped beyond the doorless cell bars and into the actual cell.

Each cell was likely the size of a studio apartment in Tokyo, with only one multi-purpose room, and all had at least a queen-sized bed frame inside. Most were devoid of any furniture beyond the empty bedframe, which caused Hisayo to suspect they’d never been used at all. There was neither a kitchen area or bathroom in any cell though, even the most furnished one she found.

The most furnished cell she found was almost indistinguishable from a very expensively furnished apartment, so long as you didn’t look at the cell bars. There was a sitting area for two people, with a crystalline tea service on the small white table, and intricately woven white rugs with silver threading covering most of the stone floor. An empty display case stood near by what Hisayo guessed was a crystal centerpiece, as she had no idea what else the five-foot-high thing could be. The bedframe had a mattress in it, and was covered in rumpled bedding as if the occupant had only just risen for the day. But the real find was the full-length mirror that was hung next to a white armoire.

Hisayo took a good, long look at herself for the first time since she had fallen into this nightmare. Her expression was freezing, making her look as emotive as an ice sculpture, but her skin had never looked so perfect. She couldn’t spot so much as single pore, and every hint of exhaustion and the toll of insomnia had been erased. Overall, she looked flush with health and energy; unless someone looked at her eyes. Hisayo smiled bitterly at her reflection as she stared at her own eyes, because the warm gold of her own irises now _burned_ with an inner luminescence that wasn't human.

Turning her attention from herself to her outfit, Hisayo took it in with a critical light. The main outfit itself was highly stylized, with a bastardized sweetheart neckline that had no right to be staying on so firmly. Tugging at the fabric across her breasts with the elbow-length white gloves she’d gotten used to seeing already, Hisayo found the fabric was functionally fused with her skin so far as she could tell. It didn’t so much as crease no matter how hard she tugged, yet she could feel it to a minor extent.

The same went for trying to pry up the green fabric that framed her abdomen. Though, when she went to pluck at the white ties that seemed to be holding the outfit together…She felt something, even if there was nothing to give it away visually. It felt like her hair did when it was full of gem-like luster, and the feeling harshly intensified when she pressed a finger against the exposed patches of skin.

Touching the exposed tops of her breasts got the same feeling, as well as the skin on her thighs, which confirmed her hunch. Every element that called attention to the exposure – the prongs framing her bust, the white ties, the bows above her transparent tights – was a taunt to her enemies, daring them to touch. _And if they do, the trap snaps shut and they lose that appendage completely._ _Every weakness in the outfit is a deception, isn’t it?_

Putting the Lorn Star and Seeds on the floor, Hisayo knelt to better inspect her thigh-high boots’ armoring. There was only metal plating on her kneecap and along her shins, with the shin plating overlapping one another like fish scales. The plates on the kneecaps were separate and distinct to allow for full mobility, and sported massive, straight spikes to give any knee thrusts a force multiplier; they had to be at least three inches long and with a breadth of four inches. Her heels sported similar spikes, only smaller and slimmer to better fit the location; the spikes were two inches long and two and a half inches in breadth.

The height boost given by her boots was modest, no more than two and a half inches and more likely to be exactly two inches. However, it was enough to make her question just how far from human this body was. She’d worn heels before - and heeled boots like these - and not one had been so comfortable and easy to move in. It was like she had nothing on her feet at all, and no matter _what_ move she used or how she was thrown about, she had never twisted or wrenched anything.

_I_ _s it even possible for me to suffer those kinds of injuries like this?_

Hisayo moved away from her boots to examine her half skirt, though it was being generous to call it that. The skirt was not one piece of cloth, but rather it had been cut into a dozen pleated ribbons. Standing at her full height they came to rest just above her heels, thus not impeding the spike at the heel. Grabbing a ribbon didn’t give her that unique lustrous feeling, but a sharp yank saw the thing detach without a single instance of resistance. It then dissolved into light before reforming in its place on her skirt. With this feature, she’d never need to be concerned about someone grabbing hold of it in a fight.

Satisfied with her outfit, she turned her attention to her accessories. There were nine separate pieces on her body, excluding the yellow-white crystal embedded in her body along the sternum. Putting her fingers just _near_ the crystal gave her that feeling, and touching it directly intensified the feeling until it felt like her entire hand was encased in gelatin. 

Her braces on her forearms looked to be made of the same gray metal as her leg armor, and she could find no visible catch on them to release them. Pulling saw no results either, until she focused on wanting to remove them; they easily came off the moment she did and went back on just as easily. The golden armband set with a massive pearl seemed to offer no purpose beyond decorative, but it also required her intent to remove it.

The choker was interesting for something that looked useless. Set with a massive pearl, it was large and solid for jewelry. But as Hisayo turned her neck about, she could see in the mirror it likely was to hinder any attempts to cut at her neck. Her arteries and airway were well covered with its surface, while it also remained small enough not to impede her neck movement. Her earrings and pearl “tiara” however, _were_ utterly useless. The only thing they had going for them was that any attempts to rip them off saw them instantly dissolve into light, before reforming in their proper place. Lastly, the blade-like decorations holding together a small bun at the back of her head…they did nothing either. Just more of the “dissolve if forcibly removed” feature.

Hisayo picked up her weapon and the Seeds, standing back up, only to find the sudden urge to smash the Lorn Star into the mirror as burning eyes stared back at her. She ignored the urge, and instead looked down at the four Seeds in her palm. If the voice was to be believed, she was holding four souls in her palm…Which meant…

_Yes, my Power. The monsters were once humans. Not all of them, not after all this time. But the original five thousand were, and their souls rot here._

Hisayo could see the blood draining from her face at the number.

_Before they can be released to find their way back to the Galaxy Cauldron, we must remove the foulness._

So, they weren’t supposed to look like this. Hisayo frowned down at the Seeds, wondering if that was why she still felt revolted by them. Could she instinctively sense whatever this “foulness” is?

_Your soul is not like theirs, and will never be. You did not ever enter the Cauldron after all. But even still, you know that this is wrong. Someday you will be able to do this on your own, but, for now…_

Gripping the Lorn Star – which was apparently was like training wheels regarding her abilities, and what the fuck did that mean for her – Hisayo pressed the Seeds against its spike-covered head. She could feel it activate, but the drain was stronger now. Much, much stronger, like it wasn’t a tool but an extension that traveled up her arm to latch onto her sternum; or, rather, the crystal.

Hisayo grit her teeth as she slowly saw wisps of purple-black energy be drawn into the weapon, darkening its metal, and focused on tearing out every bit of the energy. It felt like it took hours of back-breaking, grueling work as she stood there and trembled in creeping exhaustion, panting and covered in sweat. But just as she felt like she was actually going to pass out in exhaustion, the last motes of energy were drawn into the now pitch-black weapon.

The Seeds looked utterly different now, softly glowing in her palms and full of delicate colors. However, the crystal surface that covered the colored cores looked scratched and abraded with damage.

“Didn’t I heal it of damage?” She asked softly between pants, wondering if she had messed up somehow.

_We are Power, not Restoration. What you did was pull away the poisonous, corrupting energy. But you aren’t ready to forcibly convert this into pure energy, so listen carefully…_

Exhausted, but also understanding that keeping that disgusting energy inside something she used to take energy inside her body was a very, very bad idea, Hisayo did as instructed. Focusing on the stored energy in the weapon’s head, Hisayo commanded it to expel it in a solid form. It was like watching the suction in reverse, as the energy was expelled and swirled into a purple-black gem the size of a golf ball.

Willing the Lorn Star to return to wherever it was when she wasn’t using it, Hisayo picked up the corruption gem in her free hand. Even through her glove, it felt like picking up something slimy, so she wondered what the hell she could do with it. The voice had no suggestions, so she focused on moving to the farthest cell from here and deposited the gem there after wrapping it in chains.

_Now my Power, will yourself to return to your home._

Hisayo shook at the idea that it was just _that easy_ to leave, before forcibly exhaling and shunting the urge to scream far, far away. The voice had already shown how she could not resist it in any meaningful way.

Focusing with all her might, Hisayo found herself in her own living room. The sudden reintroduction of color and light was dazzling, but only to her mind. Her eyes took the shift with ease, no adjustment between absolute darkness and well-lit room needed. If not for the Seeds shifting restlessly in her palm, maybe there would have been a moment that she dared to think it was all a mad moment a delusion. As it was, she merely went outside and leapt onto her rooftop in one, easy bound.

_Now hold your hand up to the sky and open your hand my Power._

Hisayo raised her hand and whispered “Good luck” as she opened her palm. The dimly glowing Star Seeds began to blaze as the starlight fell on them, beginning to hover over her palm. For something so small and battered, Hisayo found them beautiful as they slowly ascended. Circling over her once in concert, almost like a farewell, they then began to shoot up like falling stars in reverse.

When she could see nothing more of them, Hisayo re-entered her home through her bedroom window, and she stared at her bed with longing. She wanted nothing more than to _rest_ , to sleep and sleep until everything didn’t feel so raw and abused. But this body was perfect, needing neither sleep nor fuel to function in perpetual motion. Even her exhaustion and sweat had been whisked away by now, leaving her pristine.

_You overthink, my Power. Merely_ **_will_ ** _it._

Summoning up her last reserves of willpower, Hisayo demanded to be mortal again. Metallic golden light burst into being, unraveling the outfit she had worn until it was like it was her own skin, and putting her in clothing that felt much, much tighter than she remembered it. As the colors faded away, Hisayo fumblingly ripped off her clothes as she staggered to her bed. Not bothering to get pyjamas to wear, she crawled underneath her covers and was asleep as her head hit her pillow.

* * *

When Hisayo woke from her deep, dreamless sleep, it was light out. Or, more accurately, noon as the clock at her bedside told her.

Hisayo went straight to her shower after kicking off her sheets, luxuriating in the feeling of washing away everything that had happened. Of course, she knew there was no way to truly erase the horrors she had seen, but it was a balm to her heart regardless. She took her time shampooing and conditioning her long locks, finger-combing through tangles with a care she hadn’t given it before. It’d be different from now on, she told it silently, as her hair was now part of her protection. She took just as much care to wash her body with her best soaps, filling the shower with a lavender scent, scrubbing away the feeling of obliterating things with a strike.

Exiting the shower only when the water finally chilled, Hisayo dried and combed out her hair before going to her closet. Selecting one of her rare leisure T-shirts and shirts, along with a set of underthings, Hisayo found out the hard way that the too-tight clothes from last night weren’t a freak coincidence.

Nothing fit anymore. She was too big for her clothes, underwear, and shoes (as a quick check revealed), while her bra was too _big_. Hisayo didn’t dare to try on any of her good clothes like this, and it was this moment that finalized it for her. Some muted hope that something would be left untouched by what happened faded away, as she looked at her beloved collections of lolita and ouji clothing.

_... I wanted to go to the meeting this month..._

But she couldn’t now. She didn’t even know a decent tailor who could adjust her clothes for her massive growth. And until she knew if she was going to _keep_ growing so suddenly and explosively, there was no point.

Nude as the days she was born, Hisayo went downstairs to fix herself something to eat. As she lived alone and had thick curtains on every window, she saw no issue with this until she found Saitou Shiori – her lawyer, guardian, and something like an uncle – sitting at her kitchen table with a massive Western breakfast spread.

Removing his glasses with lightning speed, as the man was legally blind without them, Shiori asked sharply “I know you live alone Lady Godiva, but clothing is not optional.”

Hisayo waited for the embarrassment and mortification to hit. When they didn’t, she shuffled her hair across her shoulders to cover herself and live up to the name, before sitting down at the table.

“Nothing I own fits me anymore.” She told the blindly glowering man, only to get a blink before he shrugged off his ridiculously expensive suit jacket and threw it at her. She caught it easily, and tried it on; it fit much better than it would have before all this.

After buttoning so Shiori wouldn’t be exposed to her body once he put his glasses back on, she told him “Safe now Shiori-oji-san.”

Putting his square glasses on with an elegance that said he should have been a model, Shiori finally looked her in the eyes with a cool expression. “So, it finally happened then.” He stated, not really asking, but rather confirming his suspicions.

Freezing mid-grab for bacon, Hisayo stared at the man she’d known for most of this life. He stood at a lean 5’11 when on his feet, and covered from head to toe in Dormeuil bespoke clothing. Fluffy, short cut white hair feathered delicately over yellow-green eyes the exact shade one would think Sprite should look like when you first heard the words “lemon-lime flavor.”

There was no way it wasn’t Shiori, but...

“How do you know about it Shiori.”

He didn’t answer immediately, instead grabbing a lemon and cutting it into slices. Once sliced, he gracefully ate a slice before speaking. “It told me of course, so I’d be able to cover for your absence.”

“It? And how long was I gone Shiori?”

He gave her a cool look, the same one he did when she messed up her kanji. “The voice of the planet of course. Or maybe it was calling itself Power this time? And you were gone for three weeks Hisayo.”

His words echoed in her head, and Hisayo could only feel a sense of horrified understanding. _Of course, it was so long, it felt like years down there. And... the planet..._

“It’s been preparing for you for a very, very long time if I understand correctly. But I suppose I should explain myself.” He cleared his throat, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “You know my story. My parents were murdered in order to get hold of their lands, and I grew up to take down the corrupt officials who authorized it. What I’ve never told anyone is how I managed it.”

He smiled bitterly, “On my own, I have no talent. I have my looks, my determination, and nothing else. But the voice spoke to me after my hair turned white with Marie Antoinette Syndrome, and offered me a deal. It would give me all the power I needed to have my revenge, and to live well afterwards in order to continue following my dream of ensuring no child would be like me. All I had to do was serve it when it asked; without question.

“It never did ask, until your mother became pregnant with you. It told me I must become your godfather, the one legally appointed to look after you should anything happen, and that I would obey and enable you in every respect. I have done so, and frankly, it has been easier so far than I was expecting. Only needing to suddenly fabricate a serious illness that required you to immediately switch to homeschooling has been an issue.”

Hisayo stared at him for several minutes, as many things that had happened over the years suddenly made sense. His permissiveness to a child, his understanding and compliance to any desire... and how he had never treated her as anything but a height-challenged adult. She had thought- No. It didn’t matter.

“... And my instructor is as well, isn’t she.”

Shiori nodded, eating another lemon slice. “Yes. She’s what indicates how long the planet must have been preparing. However, Candranaya-san only told me of this recently; when I called to let her know you would be unable to make your lessons. I believe it is only because she doesn’t wish to tell you in person that she spoke of it to me, as she considers it shameful that she’s become fond of you.”

Hisayo remained silent at that revelation.

“Candranaya-san was recruited during World War II. Apparently, when the Imperial Army landed on her island and set up a base, she was offered the power to…permanently end their occupation without dying in the process. Not one soldier survived or escaped, and she kept the island free of any other incursions afterwards.”

Shiori drummed his fingers against the table as he smirked slightly. “The entire incident was classified, as it was an embarrassment, which made getting her into the country _legally_ one of the more interesting cases I’ve ever had.”

Hisayo nodded in acknowledgement after a moment. If Candranaya had been alive during the Japanese invasion, then it made sense why she never once opened up to Hisayo. Reincarnation or not, she was Japanese now.

“This is related to her never teaching me any of the Malay terms, or allowing me to call her anything but an instructor…right?”

Shiori fussed with his cufflinks for a moment before nodding. “Yes. She said that she’s taught you everything you may learn without becoming an official disciple of hers…And she will not ever acknowledge you as one. Candranaya-san will be leaving the country, permanently, after she teaches you how to control your new strength. Apparently, her power will allow her to handle you.”

Hisayo swallowed back the emotions his words stirred up. She’d known the woman for most of this life, and if that wasn’t enough to make her change her mind…Hisayo told herself she was lucky that Candranaya’s hatred had bent enough to give her one final gift: control.

“Is there anyone else I should know about Shiori?”

He shrugged, pulling a slice of toast to himself and putting three lemon slices on it before taking a bite. “I know of no one else. However, I doubt that it is only the two of us.”

Hisayo exhaled, inhaled, and began to fill her plate. “Alright. Do you think you could call over someone to take my measurements? I can’t go shopping without clothing, so I’d rather just get a few custom pieces to tide me over until I can shop.”

“Of course.”

Hisayo took a bite of her bacon as she looked at the most beautiful man she had seen in either life. She wondered if she had ever known him.

The bacon didn’t taste like anything at all.

* * *

Wearing hastily made clothes felt weird. In this life, she had taken pride and joy in her clothing as she had the money to do so. She really couldn’t get used to being clothed so poorly now.

Especially not now, not in front of Candranaya.

“Brat, I’ve been told you can’t control yourself yet. Put your clothes on and come at me. We’ll see just how badly you’re doing.”

Hisayo stared at the older woman desperately, wondering if this really was it. But as Candranaya stood there, waiting silently, Hisayo put aside the wish the woman would…

“Earth Eternal Make Up!”

In a flash of golden light, Hisayo found herself standing in full regalia as Candranaya braced herself. “Come on brat.”

Hisayo did just that, launching herself forward like it was another monster awaiting her. No mercy, no hesitation, just the intent to kill.

Candranaya dodged the first strike with ease, deflected the next, and finally took the full force of her third strike with a proper block. “You’ve finally learned the proper mindset!” She stated as she swept Hisayo’s feet out from under her, while Hisayo caught herself on one hand and pushed herself into a somersault. As she landed on her feet, she had to fend off Candranaya’s strikes as they were all aimed for her vitals.

“Am! I hitting! Kill spots!?”

Jumping into the air to get away from Candranaya’s barrage, she began to make better use of all the options offered to her by her superhuman physique.

“You are, brat, you just keep using too much power! Cut it!” She blocked a strike with her shin, “I won’t be satisfied until you can spar with a normal human like this!”

As the concrete cracked beneath her heels, Hisayo knew they were going to be here all day.

* * *

At what had to be midnight, Candranaya called the lesson to a close. “Brat, you’re not bad. Only experience will teach you now.”

Hisayo released her transformation in another flash of golden light and gave Candranaya a resigned expression. This was it then; the last time she’d see the woman. Candranaya turned away from her, grabbing her bag and walking to the door before she paused to call back over her shoulder.

“And get some better clothes! You look wrong without your rich brat look!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The outfit description might have gotten a little lengthy, but I feel like it was important to actually think about "how do you make this sort of design justified, if the designer is a Planet who is out to defend its chosen warrior?" I had a lot of fun discussing with Aisling and a friend on how to make what I think is a cool design be very, very lethal. 
> 
> For this fic, I've made some reference images that I've attached to a separate "work" so that it doesn't clutter up the actual chapters. Created via some gorgeous dollmakers, they've helped me out a lot in solidifying how I wanted Hisayo's outfit to work.


	6. Fracture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fingers feel like they're on fire, I gotta keep up with the inspiration Aisling dishes out...even if she's threatening to knife me over posting so quicky!

Hisayo gives herself a few days to…adjust to her new circumstances. Even with Candranaya’s final lesson to her, she’s still feeling as sensitive as a skinned cat. Startling is now dangerous for people around her, as her reflexes have been reconditioned into a lethal strike instead of dodging. But even with her intent to try and give herself even a small break from reality, it’s soured by the fact her dreams have resumed.

The bad dreams to be precise.

It’s not every night it happens. Sometimes the dreams are more mundane, boring in their “daily life” essence, even if they’re centered around showcasing how this Silver Imperium treated the so-called Elysians. But if she was to go through all her journals, Hisayo knows that the count would be skewed to the horrifyingly bad dreams.

Sometimes she dreams of dying in a fantastical war, each time in a different way. The battle never goes well when they have only human soldiers, as magic can tear apart any number of them with ease. Her mind always feels an odd sort of numbness as she looks out from behind dozens of eyes, like she was wrapped in a layer of cotton that prevented her from reacting to anything but her orders. It helped when the monsters arrived to turn the tide of battle, before she watched someone's friend scream as his form twisted into a new monster.

Over the years, as she bounced through the eyes of foot-soldiers, officers, and some of the higher ranks, Hisayo pieced together a patchy timeline of the war. They had rebelled against their ruler and his heir-apparent, as the heir was taking an Imperial to wife. Though some of the higher officers saw it as her taking _him_ , thus finally subsuming Elysium into her Queendom as they had been trying to do for centuries via browbeating and other such political maneuvers.

The leader was a woman who styled herself as Queen, a mage of terrible power as well as the controller and creator of the monsters. Any time she appeared in a dream the cotton sensation grew stifling to _Hisayo_ , let alone whoever she was watching from. But Hisayo had no idea how she could lead so much as a rock, let alone a massive rebellion and the following war against the Silver Imperium. The Queen was short tempered, cold blooded, tyrannical, pathologically obsessive about the heir-apparent, and was liable to come unhinged at any failure (perceived or not.)

But her worst sin as a leader, and the biggest reason Hisayo could not understand how she was the leader, was how she had absolutely no sense of strategy or tactics. The Queen was utterly inept in war, or any kind of leadership. Not _one_ battle she had died in, or was a party to the planning of, had a strategy beyond “charge and overwhelm with our numbers.” The death toll was staggering, and any surviving injured soldier was taken to the Queen to be converted into a new, whole monstrosity. In fact, if she had her timeline right, by the end of the war there was only a tiny handful of humans left; mostly officers, who were eventually “rewarded” with a transformation into a monster before her very eyes.

It was these dreams that had led to her taking increasingly desperate measures to stay awake, and trying to understand what the hell they were about. Last night’s dream though, was different. She didn’t die, but…It was full of despair.

Whoever’s eyes she looked out from last night were new to her. She had never dreamed of them before, or of what she assumed the time period to be.

He woke up after going to bed, terrified of what the result of the Queen’s invasion of the Moon would bring, and found everything was destroyed. And by everything, Hisayo meant she didn’t have the words to describe the scope of the destruction. His home was gone, his clothes were gone, his things were gone, all turned to dust judging by the massive dunes of dust where all these things should be. He tried to wake his wife and speak to her, but when she woke, he couldn’t. Everything that came out of his mouth was babbling, insane nonsense that made no sense even to himself. His wife opened her mouth to prove that she could no longer speak either, but her babbling wasn’t even _like_ his.

As they walked through the dunes, naked and shivering, they found other people. They too were unable to speak and trying to write in the dust only showed that even writing had been destroyed. He had wept at this because he was a…What was he? What was the word? He had known it, had built his life doing this, so why couldn’t he remember?!

He was something that lived somewhere! Why! Why couldn’t he remember!? 

Hisayo’s perspective had shifted after he began to howl wordlessly in grief, to a woman who was working as a doctor. She had been in the middle of a surgery, trying to amputate a limb that was being consumed by plants as Hisayo caught a muttered “What fucking monsters does the Imperium _have-”_ , when a Silence cut through all sound and thought. Her vision flickered out for a moment, Hisayo’s along with it, before the world came back.

Everything was different. Wrong.

She had been doing something, something to this person. Plants were writhing inside their limb, visibly, and she’d had something in her hands. It was dust now, and her knowledge was gone too. She tried to speak to her assistant, but all that came out was mad chatter. He couldn’t understand her and she couldn’t understand him.

The person died. It was horrible, and she will never, ever forget how they begged for help she couldn’t give anymore. She didn’t know how, so she’d had to watch them die.

Hisayo had woken up after that, chased by lingering feelings of someone else’s desolation and howling horror. She wrote down her dreams in her journal, and felt that they were better than the war dreams by only a slight amount. If she had to pick a preference from the array of horrible and boring dreams, she’d prefer to dream of the man who showcased most frequently. He was a General, and she never saw a dream of him during the war. It was always before, dealing with diplomacy, Courtly affairs, and a host of other minutiae.

He’d probably taught her most of what she knew of the two languages featured in her dreams, Elysian and Imperian. With his duties, it was required he have mastery over both languages and be completely literate. Though it was a shame his skill with the written scripts hadn’t transferred over as much as his oral skills. She’d tried writing in the Elysian script for her journals, but it quickly gave her migraines. Imperian was a lost cause, as the script was apparently _archaic_ and didn’t match the oral language at all anymore; she was illiterate beyond the forms the General constantly had to fill out. 

But as she fixed herself breakfast, Hisayo wondered _why_ she had bothered to even try giving herself a break. She feels just as wrung out and exhausted as she had been when she got back, what with the return of the dreams. And worse, she feels adrift. Without the rhythm imposed by public schooling (Shiori had said something about having her home-school work handled for her) and the ability to go do something… There’s nothing to do but sit around her house.

 _Maybe if I looked older…_ But who was she kidding? She knew she could easily pass as an adult now, especially with the handful of fitting clothes she had picked up. _At least in that body, I didn’t feel like I was dying on my feet._

* * *

Hisayo isn’t sure where she heard it, or in which life, but a line comes to mind as she prepares herself to willingly return to hell. The specifics of it were lost to memory, but she never forgot how it defined the difference between fear and horror as not knowing what you face versus knowing exactly what you face.

She feels horrified.

But her life has already been overturned by this, and there was no running from it. The voice of a planet wasn’t something you could escape from when you lived _on_ the planet; maybe not even if you didn’t, as it had already infiltrated her life long before the moment she had been conceived. And, much to her dismay, Hisayo personally could not ignore the fact that place existed.

Why did it exist? Why were those monsters there? How could some of them have been human once? She had so many questions and only a few, terrible hunches instead of solid answers.

Packing a large suitcase full of linens, pillows, and blankets – as she intended to make use of the furnished cell if she was going to be spending more time there – Hisayo transformed back into her other body. The sheer difference between her senses was still staggering, and the erasure of exhaustion and a need for sleep was seductive; she was tempted just to stay like this. But all the things attached to this perfect, powerful form meant it wouldn’t truly tempt her.

Willing herself into the furnished cell, Hisayo stripped the bed and began to remove the things she had purchased. The queen-sized fitted sheets proved her guess had been right by fitting, and stuffing the down comforter into an appropriate cover didn’t take long. Her last touch to the no-longer-silken bed was a few pillows and a body-pillow (plain and downy, without any art on it, as she just wanted something to hug.)

Food and water weren’t something this body needed, and so she hadn’t brought any with her. It also eliminated the issue of how she’d store it by leaving all that at home. So, with that, she stuffed the removed bedding into her luggage and willed it back to her home. Shiori could likely figure out if the bedding offered any clues, once she returned.

With this done, Hisayo sat on the couch in the small sitting area. So far, she hadn’t intentionally tried to talk with the voice. It picked which of her thoughts to reply to, and mostly it had ignored anything that wasn’t directly related to her skills. Hisayo intended to try to change it.

_Hello? I need answers. What is this place? Why did you drop me directly into that hell?_

She sat there for what must have been several minutes, before it decided to speak; had it been testing her?

_This is an artificial prison dimension, created before the Imperium fled here. They brought it with them when they ran, and their Queen anchored it to us without permission or warning. Now their sins are our burden, and should it be ruined or ruptured, the prisoners will find themselves somewhere on me. The level you were sent to already has a hairline crack from the unchecked Frenzies. If you had not thinned the population and broke the Frenzy, there was a chance it would have widened the crack into rupturing._

Hisayo imagined it. Dozens, or hundreds or thousands, of those monsters let loose in Tokyo, with no one prepared to fight. Perhaps even with no one _able_ to fight. It made her want to heave.

_Can the crack be fixed?_

_When you are more experienced, there are options._

And until she was, she had no options right? Of course not. That would have been too easy. Hisayo sighed, burying her face in her hands as the weight of it settled on her back like a leaden cloak.

 _How long will it take for me to become experienced enough?_ She asked silently, but no answer came. Apparently, the planet was done talking for now.

Hisayo uncovered her face to look at her pristine, gloved hands. This snow-white fabric that wouldn’t stain no matter what she did… How well-suited for a butcher.

* * *

Time slid away again, as Hisayo took to her burdens with a different kind of determination than the one that saw her through her unending, hellish three weeks. This time she wasn’t just fighting to keep herself unharmed and whole. No, this had surpassed mere personal survival. Now she fought to preserve _everything_ she had and might have, because the threat posed by these trapped monsters absolutely approached the eradication of humanity.

No human could go toe-to-toe with even the weakest monster here, and Hisayo felt that even the best guns and missiles a modern military could bring to bear would eventually stop showing results. Either the hides would be too tough, or the operators would be dead before they could shoot. As for something as extreme as carpet bombing, or even a nuclear warhead, Hisayo still felt it wouldn’t extinguish the problem if they didn’t kill _every_ monster at once. The pace they bred at, how quickly they matured into adulthood, it was with horrifying quickness. Otherwise, with this hell-like environment, there would be no way to consistently sustain a population in the thousands.

Hisayo had to get better, stronger, more competent at her skill set in order out-pace the clock. Right now, she couldn’t even use her powers to assess the crack herself; let alone try to fix it. The only thing she could do now was kill, and collect the random Star Seeds she found in the ashes.

Ten Seeds had been recovered, sent back up to the upper level to rest in the furnished cell after getting confirmation that nothing would happen if she didn’t deal with them at once. So long as they weren’t inside anything like a body, there would be no potential for trouble. Even putting them in piles would do nothing… however, she had still wrapped them in a chain ball .

Still, she had killed so many monsters and only recovered ten Seeds. Just how many monsters were there then? Or was it related to the warning the voice had given her, about allowing the Seed to be eaten?

**_MY POWER!_ **

Hisayo staggered under the blow of the voice, directly fleeing to the furnished cell as it continued to howl like a hurricane.

**_You must save our General! You must! Go now!_ **

Hisayo felt like her head was about to split under the volume of the screaming voice, and this was in this body. If she had been in her human body, would she already be dead? 

_Who?! What are you talking about?!_

The voice didn’t speak this time, but Hisayo felt like fingers were prying her skull open as her vision was completely hijacked. No longer was she in the cell, Hisayo was a disembodied observer as a tall, powerfully built, silver haired man confronted an even taller redheaded woman. Something about the woman’s body seemed off, disproportional in her long purple gown.

The man spoke in Elysian, naming the unnerving woman as Beryl, and Hisayo was unable to scream a warning as the confrontation went badly for the man. She was forced to watch as the woman used her powers to subjugate him, enslaving him to the point he rose and fought his companions. The scene skipped past the fight, only showing her how the silver haired man then dragged a man she _knew_ in front of Beryl.

Hisayo stared in numb shock as the woman enslaved Jadeite, the man who had starred so often in her dreams. He struggled as the energy washed over him, spitting curses and threats and pleading for the silver haired man to wake up, until it took hold. The light in his eyes was snuffed out, and he rose to help the silver haired man grab hold of the next victim.

Her vision returned to her as Jadeite moved to drag the next person over to Beryl, and Hisayo wanted to be sick. She hadn’t met or spoken to the man, but after dreaming from behind his eyes for years she knew him, felt close to him. That proud, arrogant, fiercely intelligent man being enslaved by that bitch…

**_Do you understand?! Save him!_ **

_He’s real? He’s alive?!_ She asked in hysteria-tinged shock.

**_Yes! Lost to us for ten thousand years, but now you must save him before they kill him!_ **

****

Hisayo did not hear the words “ten thousand years,” because she only heard that Jadeite was going to be killed. Jadeite, the General who had taught her, been the source of so many decent dreams, and who she had just seen enslaved to a madwoman. Now she knew he was real, she didn’t want him to die in chains.

_Where is he?_

**_Will yourself to him. Hurry!_ **

****

Focusing her intent, Hisayo exited the prison dimension and found herself in the world again. The location was a wreck from battle, but her eyes were locked on one figure.

Jadeite was being burned alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how the manga straight up did this to Jadeite when the author shipped him with Rei/Sailor Mars ahahahahaha


	7. Determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ WARNING! ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ  
> This chapter does contain semi-graphic description of how a person is burnt alive! This chapter also contains semi-graphic description of "medicial" treatment done without anesthesia!

Pain. Pure, burning pain. Jadeite had a brief moment where he wondered if it would ever end, before another flash of mind numbing agony took away that thought as he failed to put the flames out. 

Death was a certainty for him. He had failed his Queen, he had failed his fellow Generals, and he has failed his people.

_People? Why did I think that?_

But it seemed, with every piece of himself that was burned and eroded away, old memories resurfaced; bringing with them clarity, where before there was only a vague, gaping darkness. 

Young men and women had trained under him. His armies were renowned for their skill in combat, successfully keeping the peace and able to surpass many of the other planets’ soldiers. 

_I remember… Those men and women had been so_ **_weak._ ** _They had depended too much on their Guardians, to the point that they had crippled their people._

Such an attitude had disgusted him, this sheep-like mentality had gained no respect from any of the Generals. ( _Or were we kings?_ ) For the sake of Endymion they had kept silent on how cruelly soft the Something was - deceptively so, why didn't She save them? - but the Something had unleashed their monster in the end.

_The monster's power has no hold over another death. Perhaps that means that our language, our knowledge will one day return..._

He could die with that hope. It would be over soon; Mars’ flames burned with an intensity not found on Earth. His tendons were burning, and his muscles had already turned into ash. 

_My brothers, my Prince, forgive me._

But then a heavy, immense pressure exploded into the air, and a stranger with burning yellow eyes was standing before his fading sight. He could not feel it even as he saw her weapon be pressed into the furiously burning flames... and the flames he could not douse began to be devoured by the weapon. Fire swirled into the gray metal until not even an ember remained, and she dropped her weapon without hesitation to gently catch his ruined body. 

Tears ran down her bloodless face as the world winked out, only to be replaced by a dark room. There was no light here beyond the building golden corona that surrounded the stranger that held him. “There must be a way to save him! Tell me how I can save General Jadeite!” She shouted to no one as the corona grew thicker, and the crystal embedded in her chest began to shine like a star. 

Her expression changed to pain-driven determination after a moment, and she moved a hand to what he guessed was the center of his chest; he could feel nothing beyond agony. Golden light surged upwards from her hand, and for a little while everything was numbed. But as she began to visibly exert herself, sweat mixing with tears, the numbness faded into a new, excruciating pain.

Every part of him that had been charred into ruination, no, _every_ part of him felt like it was being torn apart piece by piece. The only constant in this world of torture was her face, tearful eyes burning with fervent determination as the light grew brighter. When it felt like he would unravel at the slightest touch, the pain changed again. It itched, violently, maddeningly, as the pain raced along nerves he didn’t have anymore. 

She was panting now, trembling and sweating heavily from exertion, but her expression didn’t waver. Her yellow eyes didn’t leave his, nor did the light dim, as she poured everything into this. Jadeite didn’t understand why she would throw so much effort into him, trying to save him, but as sensation began to return to his body he knew she was pulling off a miracle. 

The knowledge that this torture wasn’t in vain anchored him, kept him from scratching off his regrowing skin, and from trying to attack her. His eyes were the last thing to be healed (a sensation worse than all the others), but when it ended he felt nothing beyond how his body was once again perfectly healthy. But as he laid there in her arms, the light didn’t dim at all; instead, it kept pouring into him.

Jadeite knew this energy. Now that he was not subject to excruciating agony, he could recognize it as something he had once been intimately familiar with: the Golden Crystal. It poured out energy like a waterfall into his renewed body, and Jadeite desperately drank it down like the starving man he was. It chased away the lingering fog and filth that obscured his memories, snapping any remaining shackles to Beryl and her master, and lifted him out of the barely functioning state he had been kept in by Beryl.

But the waterfall was slowing and the corona fading, and Jadeite refocused on the woman holding him. Looking next to death, her skin was almost white and covered in sweat and lingering tears. Her arms were visibly shaking, yet the look in her eyes was overwhelming pride, relief, and triumph as she beamed down at him. 

“I did it…” She whispered to no one, before the corona faded away and Jadeite found exhaustion was hitting him just as hard. Even as he struggled to keep his eyes open, to speak to her, there was no resisting the grip of unconsciousness… 

* * *

Hisayo hauled herself to the couch after getting Jadeite onto the bed, and covering the nude man with her comforter. A sweating, panting mess that trembled even as she did nothing but sit, never in her life had she felt more overworked and exhausted. Yet, she could already feel that she was beginning to recover. Her trembling had already eased up to mere shivers, instead of the full body shaking it had been. 

_He’s alive... I really did it._

When she had gotten onto the battlefield, it had only been her reflex that saw her throwing up chains to block off any sneak attacks which let them make it out so easily. Her reflexes had been right, as she had heard something crash into the wall of chains as she was absorbing the fire. Despite everything she had undergone in the prison dimension, the many painful lessons on keeping her wits about her... she had been too horrified by the sight of Jadeite burning, his flesh melting off of him, to think of anything else but saving him.

But the real battle had come when she had pleaded with the voice for a way to save him. The voice of the planet rang in her memories just as clearly as it would in the present. 

_We can save him, though it will require all your skill and determination my Power. However, our General... His body is no longer human or one of the Earthlings. We cannot fix this, not even if you had reached your apex my Power._

Hisayo had discarded the warning at that moment with, _Jadeite will still be General Jadeite! Tell me what I need to save him!_

_Then, we will perfectly break down his ruined body parts into their elemental components before perfectly reconstructing them. This is how we may heal him. It must be in one session without stopping, and anything other than these objectives must be addressed later._

And then, as she laid her hand on his chest, Hisayo felt like a gate opened inside her. Originating from the crystal embedded in her sternum, Hisayo found a wellspring of pure Power waiting for her. It first entered her body in a trickle; but with each second the gate was held open, it increased. The trickle became a stream, a river, a flood, a tsunami, until finally, Hisayo understood how a finite, breakable thing felt as someone tried to shove something that approached infinitely close to the infinite into its fragile confines. 

Even acting only as a mere conduit, instantly spending every drop of Power on Jadeite, it felt like she was going to unravel at the atomic level. Hisayo had known though, that she could not afford to lose her focus because of the Power flooding her body. She only had one shot to save him, and Hisayo couldn’t accept the idea of letting him die after everything.

 _Y_ _ou must live!_

As she held on, information began to enter her mind as the voice of the planet recounted what it discovered. 

_The General’s body now bears only superficial, aesthetic similarities to a human or Earthling. The musculoskeletal system has been almost completely reworked, eliminating evolutionary flaws and taking inspiration from various natural creatures and monsters. His pure, unadulterated physiological strength is now comparable to a standard monster...Respiratory and cardiovascular systems have been refined, presence of an additional heart indicates redundancy systems..._

The longer she held on, the more she heard of how Jadeite’s body had been modified. No part of him had been left untouched, except “useless” things like parts of his integumentary system and his reproductive system. And to add to the pain, was how the voice would occasionally recount how it had to reconstruct badly healed wounds. 

When the last wound was healed, Jadeite looked perfectly healthy once more; except that he appeared to have vitiligo, as the new skin didn’t match the patches of original, tanner skin. Hisayo kept pouring Power into him despite this, as the voice judged she could handle more healing. _As long as I can hold on, don’t stop!_

_Very well. First, let us cleanse his brain of all remaining spells and bindings... Destroy curses of perpetual stasis... And we shall stop at restoring his faltering, human energy._

Forced to stop, Hisayo had smiled triumphantly at the man and watched as he slid off into sleep before getting them to where they were now. _I need to get him clothes, and... Damnit. How much does he know?_

Jadeite’s very existence was all but a confirmation that her dreams were real events, which Hisayo still struggled to believe even with him asleep on her bed. Because, if the dreams were factual... All the horrors she had seen were as well. And the monsters imprisoned here must have once been Jadeite’s people.


	8. Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ Warning ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ  
> Discussion of human experimentation and the medical/body horror of that.
> 
> Also Aisling said I'm fool for going ahead and posting (along with the usual stabbing threats) buuuuut next chapter is looking to be a whopper.

Despite her intentions of getting answers from Jadeite, Hisayo is foiled by the fact he’s entered some sort of recovery period; he doesn’t wake. So after what she’s sure is several hours, she went back to her home to place a call to Shiori. 

“Shiori, I need a few pairs of very loose menswear for a short man. I think he’s roughly 5’3.”

He’s silent on the line for a moment before, “I see. Hisayo, will you need more than just the essentials?”

She twirled the phone cord between her fingers in thought. “I do, but I have no idea when he’s going to wake up. I’d rather have some loose things first, before committing to shopping or borrowing your tailor.”

“Very well, I’ll make a note to bring it up when he awakens. Do you need me to hire a nurse to take care of him?”

She frowned at the idea of letting a trained professional near Jadeite’s body, and of removing him from the cell before she can verify anything. “No, he can’t afford to be inspected by anyone who knows the human body like that. Do you think you can bring over some sports drinks and things with which to make health smoothies? I don’t know what he needs, but hydration and vitamins won’t hurt.”

“Understood. Do you need anything else Hisayo?”

There were several things that came to mind, but Hisayo didn’t have the emotional energy to entertain them. So, instead, she asked after pragmatic things.

“Can you elaborate on what setup you have going on for this homeschooling? And if I don’t grow again soon, I’d like to figure out a time to meet your tailor. I can’t get used to off-the-rack stuff anymore.”

Shiori actually chuckled lightly at that, and Hisayo felt wistful. The last time he had laughed had been before everything. “Just say the word and we will get your wardrobe in order. Frankly, I’m surprised you lasted this long.”

And this was coming from the man who regularly wore suits more expensive than the average _car_. 

“But as for your schooling, I found a promising young talent who is in need of money. So long as they handle your work well and discreetly, I’ll pay their tuition to the _best_ middle and high school they can possibly get into. Along with the possibility of some extra funds if their living situation declines while they collaborate with us.”

He paused for a moment, and Hisayo could picture him adjusting his glasses for a moment to think. “While I understand you cannot be expected to dedicate time to Power as well as schooling you have no need of, I have no intentions of continuing this through university. You have enough inherited wealth to live luxuriously on without working in ‘public,’ so university would be something you want but do not need; unlike the fact you do need to graduate from middle and high school with the grades you would get if you could attend.”

Hisayo mulled over his words and found little she could argue against. It was true that she neither needed to relearn algebra she could do in her sleep, nor did she have the time with which to do so. And with middle and high school diplomas, she could theoretically go to university whenever she chose; no lack of money would be there to spur her to it in a hurry. 

“I can’t find any faults Shiori. I assume you have a few backups and ways to ensure this talent’s discretion?”

“Of course. I have left no loopholes or loose ends. Oh, and Hisayo? Please turn on your television’s news station. I believe you’re unaware of certain events.”

Uncertain of what Shiori was hinting at, but knowing the man well enough he’d never mention anything lightly, Hisayo did just that. The newscaster talked about the weather before turning back to the most sensational story. An airport had been attacked by supernatural means, and much of it was now damaged from the clash despite the miraculously unharmed civilians who had been on site. Of course, the newscaster mentioned, this was not as interesting as the veritable forest of unbreakable gold-black chains that sprung up around a certain area.

“-the most fantastical sight, and many are claiming it to be proof magic exists. The area has been cordoned off for research by the government, however, it is still possible to make out that some of the chains are partially tethered into the very air itself.”

Hisayo supposed she had her answer on how long her chains lasted… She’d need to check the ones in the prison dimension, especially the ones she had used to cocoon monsters, for further confirmation but it did seem they would only be dispelled on her order. Feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassment at the slip-up, she just wished she’d figured this out in a less embarrassing manner.

Focusing on the image of her chains through the TV, Hisasyo bent her focus on them and commanded that they disappear. She was gratified to see the newscaster’s jaw drop as the camera screen showed the chains shattering into golden sparks that quickly vanished, leaving no trace behind. Hisayo turned the TV off and said her goodbyes to Shiori, silently trying to tell the man to never bring this up again.

With that taken care of, Hisayo returned to check on Jadeite (no change) and to resume the fight. It was a surprisingly fruitful session of slaughter, as besides the three Seeds she recovered, Hisayo discovered she could fly.

_You will find that outside this dimension, you can also teleport anywhere in the solar system without effort._

Returning to the furnished cell before responding, Hisayo could only ask, _Why?_

_It is only natural, as you will inevitably have to defend us against enemies that come from elsewhere in the universe. If you cannot fly, teleport, and survive in open space, this becomes exponentially more difficult._

A chill crept down her spine at the implications. _Inevitably?_

_My Power, the Silver Imperium fled something. The Imperium may have fallen but whatever hunted them will not know this. It will chase them down eventually, and we will be the ones to pay._

* * *

Knowing that she was solely responsible for Jadeite’s health, Hisayo endeavored to find a way to actually judge time in the prison dimension before returning to the slaughter. Inhuman body or no, she severely doubted Jadeite would still be alive if she found herself on another three week campaign. Regardless of how her body didn’t need fluids or food, there was nothing to indicate Jadeite had a similar constitution.

Her internal clock wasn’t worth speaking of, as any time she began to focus she lost all sense of time. _Like how I couldn’t tell it was three weeks…_ The only reason she knew how long it had been since she had finished healing Jadeite was thanks to the news broadcast Shiori had prompted her to see. It had been, roughly, a day since she had finished healing him. 

She’d like to assume that, prior to her rescue, he had been getting sufficient care for his basic needs. However, Hisayo couldn’t really delude herself on that; she’d healed injuries that said he’d been treated violently, as they’d been left to heal badly. So, frankly, if he didn’t wake up by the second day she would have to try and get fluids in him. She’d be doing it already if it wasn’t for the fact Shiori hadn’t gotten her the supplies yet.

Wristwatches would have been the most convenient way to keep track of time, but keeping one on her mortal body would see it vanish when she changed to this body. And trying to keep one on her immortal body, when she was fighting, meant it would be destroyed sooner or later. It left her with only stationary clocks to choose from which, as this was the 90s, meant they weren’t quite what she wanted. The optimal clock would have been a more modern one that displayed the date as well as the time, able to run on batteries for a year. 

Resigning herself to her limited choices, Hisayo purchased two analog alarm clocks. One went in the furnished cell, and the other was taken along for a small experiment. After setting it to ring two hours later, she stuffed the clock in one of the many empty cages before turning to fight. Sure enough, two hours later she could hear the irritating clamor anywhere she went in the prison level; the ringing stood out sharply compared to the screaming. 

After turning the clock off, Hisayo set out to investigate the chains she had left standing the first time she had fallen here. It was simple to do so when she only had to will herself to them, and she found that the situation was just like it had been for the airport. The chains remained precisely as she had left them, untouched and without a sign of wear. Even the cocoons had stilled, no longer moving due to the monsters she had trapped inside. Unraveling the chain cocoons to verify the monsters weren't merely sleeping, revealed that each monster had died horrifically; they had resorted to autocannibalism in their madness to stave off hunger, and died because of their injuries. 

Instinct almost had her calling the Lorn Star to hand in order to see if the monsters contained Seeds for retrieval, but Hisayo stopped herself. When she had been given the Star it had been described as something there to help her _learn_. So, if she did not inherently need it, she needed to figure out how to do its functions without its aid. There was no telling how long she would have the Star, as the planet likely would take it without warning. 

Concentrating as she placed her gloved hand on the grotesque mess of the body, Hisayo focused on how it had felt to use it: a blackhole in her hands, greedily ripping away all energy before funneling it to her. It felt like several minutes before she felt _something_ within her stir at her intent. Golden power emerged from her chest, flowing like blood as it traced a path into and through her arm until it reached her palm. Pooling under her skin, the energy felt warm, syrupy as it swirled faster and faster until she felt it begin to tug at the body beneath her. 

She frowned at how slow it was to respond and initiate the process, and how slowly the body disintegrated. Her frown grew deeper as she noticed how the instant her concentration wavered, the energy gathering faltered. _The Lorn Star really did simplify it… I had no idea it would be so difficult._

Another aspect to work on, but later; Jadeite meant she couldn’t waste time. She summoned the Lorn Star to her as she ended the technique (or was spell a better term…?), quickly disintegrating the body completely before moving onto the others. None gave her a Seed, but Hisayo hadn’t been very optimistic in the first place about getting one from these corpses. 

She then willed herself into the furnished cell, walking over to the bed to check on Jadeite. His pale face, slightly mottled with its faux-vitiligo as most of it was new skin, was tight in his sleep. Brows furrowed, frowning, and slightly quicker breathing. _More bad dreams it looks like._ Happy, or merely neutral, dreams seemed to be rare for Jadeite so far. 

Pulling back the comforter slightly, Hisayo rested a gloved hand on his chest as she called up some of the golden energy she had used to heal him. It was not entirely dissimilar as trying to discover how to do what the Lorn Star does, but it seemed like her intent had changed the composition of the energy. There was no syrupy feel to it, but the silken wetness of running water as it flowed out of her chest and to her hand. 

Despite the fact she had been more of a conduit and battery than an active participant in Jadeite’s healing, there was no avoiding learning some aspects of what had been done. She’d been there as the voice manipulated her energy, forcing herself to keep going. 

Gently inserting her energy into his body, Hisayo both practiced scanning his body and tried to take in his current physical state. She was acutely aware that his body was effectively of another species with how heavily it had been modified; the voice of the planet had not spared Jadeite a shred of privacy in its meticulous outlining. Normally, if she hadn’t been there to watch as every part of him was restored to pristine health, she wouldn’t have the faintest idea where to begin. Yet Hisayo suspected that she knew his anatomy more intimately than she knew her own now, as there was not even a tiny bit of uncertainty in her understanding of what the energy allowed her to feel.

_I sense nothing wrong with his cardiovascular system, nor his respiratory system. But his redundant systems…_

Running her golden energy through Jadeite’s additional heart however, she did very carefully. It was pumping much, much more slowly than his primary heart - which already had a very low resting heart rate - and she couldn’t say if that was good. After all, it would depend on how the creator intended the redundancy to activate. Perhaps it was to help further increase Jadeite’s physical abilities by increasing the amount of blood being pumped while in a fight, while also alleviating stress on his primary heart. Or maybe it was purely a backup in case something happened to the primary heart, and it would only see heavy use then. It was possible it even served both functions.

Curiously, the tissues of the organ seemed to be absorbing a fraction of a percentile of the power she was using. Gently increasing the flow of energy in his additional heart, Hisayo watched as the tissues seemed to flush with vitality as the golden energy was absorbed. She frowned as the heart eventually stopped absorbing the trace amounts of energy, seeming to have hit its capacity. It was beating slightly faster, and comparatively easier to how it had been before.

 _I don’t like what this is suggesting._ She thought grimly, but decided to continue with a general scan first. 

The rest of his body seemed to have no physical issues so far as she could tell. Every modified part of him was functioning perfectly, though she only did a very cursory scan over his genitals. She felt like she would be crossing lines if she spent too much time there, no matter the fact he was currently her ward. However, the more she scanned the more she saw similar scenes of his tissues absorbing miniscule amounts of her energy. It only added to her suspicions.

Opening eyes she didn’t remember closing, Hisayo looked down critically at Jadeite’s body. His pectorals were quite large, as he was heavily built despite his short stature. Not taking her hand off his body, as it would disrupt her technique, she moved her hand to his right pectoral and carefully kneaded it. _Damnit, does he have no body fat? That’s not healthy at all._

Carefully pinching the skin between two fingers confirmed that he had a disturbingly small amount of body fat, while also telling her he was low on fluids. With her free hand, she pulled the comforter back to reveal his abdomen without exposing his pelvis. Jadeite was just as impressively muscular here, but the very visible six-pack said nothing good. Sliding her hand down to his stomach, a few quick checks again confirmed he had insufficient amounts of body fat and fluids.

_I can only guess, but it looks like he was demanded to maintain his peak physical state while being denied sufficient food and fluids. And maybe energy? Or is his energy deficiency just because he’s on the verge of starving?_

Sliding her hand up to rest on his forehead, and pulling the comforter up to cover him once more, Hisayo used all caution to gently introduce her energy to his cranium. As her energy traced over his brain matter, Hisayo noted how the feedback was… Odd. The leaching effect was noticeably stronger, but not anywhere near to the point it was concerning. What did concern her was just how Jadeite’s brain seemed to be sensitive to energy, making him breathe harder and flinch heavily under her hand for a few moments. As time passed, both side effects eased away and Hisayo moved her energy down to his spinal cord.

_… Just how much did they add to his nervous system?_

Sheathed in bone stronger than steel beams, Jadeite’s spinal cord was undoubtedly more sophisticated and larger than a normal human’s. _Is it to enhance his reflexes? You can only act as quickly as you can perceive, process, then execute a reaction… So if they want to make a better fighter, I’d have improved his nervous system to bring out the full potential of his new body._

But as she ran her energy down the nerves with utter care, Jadeite once again displayed the elevated breathing and almost full-body flinches of before. Hisayo wondered darkly if that, perhaps, the increased capacity of his nervous system had not been for anything as benign as enhancing his _reflexes._

Withdrawing her energy from his spinal cord and nervous system, but not breaking the technique, Hisayo tried to get the attention of the voice. It had had no issue identifying and healing everything about Jadeite, so it was her only chance to ask for confirmation of her suspicions. _I need you to examine Jadeite. I’m aware he is likely on the edge of starvation and is in need of fluids, but his energy levels concern me. His tissues absorb any trace amounts of my energy it can grab, and I think I’m not adept enough to get a better read of his body._

It took a few minutes, but eventually the voice paid attention to her. It did not say anything at first, only assuming control of her energy and the technique. Golden energy flooded Jadeite’s entire body instead of her cautious efforts, before the voice spoke,

_This is a side effect of destroying the stasis curse that prevented growth and maturation. The modifications, while perfect, are not something that can be called “complete.” He is neither human, monster, nor a fusion of both. He is delicately balanced between “human” and “monster” and possesses both his own, human energy and the energy of the corruption via his inhuman modification._

_This existence cannot be sustained without constant aid, as the corrupt energy is a mixture of vampiric and parasitic to his innate energy. If this had not been discovered in time, it would have continued to devour his human energy and attempt to mutate his brain; or possibly re-enslave him. In order to verify the actual effect, it would have to be left unchecked. However, it seems to be “rooted” or perhaps “attracted” to his brain, as the corruption builds more quickly here than anywhere else in his body._

  
  


Hisayo felt like freezing water had been dumped on her. She’d rescued him, but, had she really in the end? His very bodily autonomy was apparently permanently compromised, unless there was something they could do to fix it.

_What can be done? Can we revert him to how he was before the modification? Even slightly?_

  
  


_No. He would not survive any attempt of reversion by Power. However, by bolstering and replenishing his own human energy with transfusions… The General will be kept stable._

  
  


_How often would he need one?_ Hisayo asked wearily, because humans with certain medical conditions could need daily transfusions of blood. 

  
  


_Daily. Likely more if he is fighting._

  
  


_Can I reduce the frequency somehow? Daily or more would mean I need to monitor him constantly, which will not work with trying to fight._

  
  


_You can, if you can create Chains with the ability to store and absorb energy. First it must store your power to release into the General, then it must also be able to absorb the corruptive energy to further prolong how long the Chain has an effect. The neck will be the best place to wrap the Chain, as the priority will be to keep the General’s mind utterly free of the corruptive energy._

  
  


If Hisayo could vomit, she would. Putting her very real Chains around the neck of someone she _knew_ had been magically enslaved? She felt dirty for even thinking about it. … But she didn’t have the ability to fix him, and the transfusion method was something she couldn’t afford. Hisayo was only one person, and she had to prioritize. She needed to keep the monster population down, collect Seeds, and try to become competent enough to fix the fracture.

_How do I do it?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all know Metallia is the power behind Beryl, but is she REALLY the big bad when Beryl is... Beryl? And it really does suck to be an inexperienced Sailor Scout who has no allies or Wish Granting Devices. Hisayo might theoretically have access to near limitless power and abilities, but she can't use it yet and her abilities can't copy the Silver Crystal "healing."
> 
> Also, the "furnished cell" now has a floor-plan in the reference fic if you'd like to check it out.


	9. Deliberation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't claim to keep to a schedule, but RL... Oh to be a rich good for nothing who could just spend all my days lounging about, writing!

Jadeite dreams, and the memories he had forgotten under Beryl’s unmerciful hands began to reorder themselves. 

He was a General of the Kingdom of Elysion, sometimes better known as the Golden Kingdom. One of four Generals, they had overseen one-quarter of the planet on top of their various duties. This supervision had awarded them the artifact title of Heavenly Kings; with Jadeite himself being the Heavenly King of the East, as that had been the quarter of the planet he oversaw. However, his more… _illuminating_ title had been the Knight of Comfort and Purity, as he had become the General who handled diplomacy and the Court. 

He and the other Generals had been selected for their position from a young age, due to the various gifts and aptitudes. Of course, the ultimate choice had laid with the Golden Crystal. It was the deciding element, and its decision to bless them with power, stamina, and immortality had confirmed their fate. After the selection and over time, they had all grown close with one another and the Prince they were sworn to protect. Jadeite had regarded them all as his brothers long before he had been able to claim the office waiting for him, no matter how they squabbled sometimes.

Even if he never exactly forgave Zoicite for deceiving him that one time.

After they had all taken their offices and assumed command over their armies, life became tenser. The tensions that had been mounting between Elysion and Someone had soured even further after the Queen had died. He could not remember the details entirely, but he knew the King had bargained with someone he should not have for the Queen’s health. They had been assured she was healed and would live healthily till old age took her, but the Queen only had a few years of health before she sickened again and died.

Bitterness and grief colored his memories of those days, as Endymion had been beyond any comfort. Their Prince had adored his mother and had been in no way prepared to lose her to an agonizing illness. Not even he could find a sharp word for how Endymion took up tending to roses in her memory, no matter how many times Endymion would get himself filthy by working as a gardener.

Jadeite remembered how many in the Court had hissed about how Death stalked the royal family. No amount of manipulation, coaxing, or vicious words could stamp out those whispers as it was a matter of record that the royal line was not prosperous. Kings and Queens struggled to produce children, with a baffling tendency for even Queens _not_ of royal blood to sicken after attempts for an heir were made. It was to the point that in many cases where the royal heir was female, her husband was given equal authority upon marriage; as was the case with Endymion’s father. And even with all precautions and all available resources at their disposal, it was incredibly rare for more than one child to survive to adulthood.

They had all been reminded sharply of this when Endymion’s sole sibling, who had never been very healthy, had passed away before she turned ten. Her loss had cemented Endymion’s growth into the kind, caring, and generous man who loved his subjects dearly, and the rose gardens Endymion tended to only grew in size. 

Despite diplomatic relations becoming frigid with Someone, peace still reigned. Of course, this was due to the great efforts he and his brothers put in. Jadeite had had more than once praised the unnatural stamina that had been bestowed above the rest of the blessings, as the ability to do without sleep had often been the only reason he had been able to handle his workload as time went on. Endymion and he had the unenviable jobs of keeping the Court in line with their plans and keeping things from escalating when some idiot tried to rattle their sabers. Of course, he had also had the _joy_ of being the primary liaison to Someone. Near the end, between these primary duties, keeping Endymion’s foolishness from being detected, and trying to organize defenses against strange monstrosities, he’d barely had a chance to see his own damn army in person.

Sometimes he’d wondered if things would have turned out differently if he, his brothers, or the King had taken the noble ladies to task. While it was understandable they’d all be eyeing Endymion as heir to the throne, despite the fates of the Queens, they’d gotten incredibly bold and persistent. If the ladies had been reigned in, would Endymion have developed such a dreadful purity kink? Because She had no qualities Jadeite could name beyond her pure, innocent ignorance… and perhaps, her passionately sincere emotions for his brother.

Endymion’s foolish dalliance with the one person he absolutely could not marry caused friction. Though he and his brothers had found chemistry with Her guardians, with he and Zoicite actually starting tentative relationships, none of them could truly support Endymion in his pursuit of Her. Any attempt to make such a relationship public would have seen their Kingdom on the verge of tearing itself apart. Civil war would not be a possibility but a _certainty_ in this political climate, as the “war” that they were waging against the monsters that appeared out of nowhere had spurred tensions to new and terrible heights. Endymion’s successful appeal to allow Their armies onto their planet in light of the war had been bitterly contested, plummeting his former popularity.

The friction between his fellow Generals and their Prince had only heightened after he discovered that Jadeite had secretly arranged an audience with Her and presented their plea that She cut ties with their Prince. Their pleas had fallen on deaf ears, and so had their arguments to their Prince about the state of their Kingdom. It was only a few days after their argument with their Prince that their end came. At the time, it had been a mild matter of alarm when compared to the powderkeg of a situation their Prince was threatening to set off.

Sorceress Beryl was a young woman of incredible prowess and intellect… But _strictly_ within her capacity as a Sorceress. It had been conveyed to them via Zoicite, when her sheer skill had seen her appointed to the Palace in spite of not having a single drop of noble blood to ease her way, that Beryl needed a minder. The Sorceress possessed a melancholic temperament that saw her frequently offend others, and was near witless outside her field. Indeed, her flaws were so great that it was only the scope of her magical talent that allowed her to get within a hundred leagues of the Palace.

Zoicite had then brought it to their collective attention that Beryl’s minder had gone missing after increasingly disturbing reports. The man in question (who posed as her sole servant) had hated the Sorceress to the point it peppered his reports; and beyond his faithful and clinical detailing of her magical efforts, he only wrote scathing recountings of her stupidity when outside her magical workroom. Zoicite had been understandably alarmed - while working through a backlog that’d accumulated during their attempts to silence any hint of Endymion’s foolishness - to find those reports had changed from one day to the next. No longer did her minder act as an agent of Zoicite’s should, but he also flattered and praised Beryl throughout the report.

They had read through a few sample reports to understand the agent’s usual attitude, and then Zoicite had passed out the reports from a few days before the agent went missing. None of them were fools, and so they’d all been deeply alarmed by the trend. Magic users were highly prized for their abilities, but they were equally watched with a careful eye by the Kingdom as the scope of harm a _minor_ magic-user could commit was profound. And Beryl was no minor Sorceress, but an incredibly powerful and talented one. 

As time was of the essence, and together they could easily incapacitate Beryl, they tracked the woman down. When they found her, she was already twisted into the new, unnatural form she would wear for the rest of Jadeite’s memories. Black hair had become a flat, ugly red that made her bleached skin look ghastly. Talons adorned enlarged and stretched out hands, which matched how Beryl had shot up to tower over Kunzite. She’d even traded in her modest Elysian dress for some silky, form-fitting thing that attempted to make her look sensual and appealing; it did not succeed at either.

They shouldn’t have attempted to interrogate her, to see if there was any chance of salvaging the greatest magic user the Kingdom currently had. But they’d had no idea of what Beryl had done, or what new powers she had been given. First, she had enslaved Kunzite, and then sent him to attack them. There was no way they could fight their brother with their full lethality, regardless of the fact most of them were at a disadvantage in a cramped underground hallway, and they could not get past the master swordsman to try and kill Beryl without killing _Kunzite_. 

And so they’d fallen, to Kunzite’s blows and Beryl’s magic. 

Jadeite struggled as Kunzite dragged him to Beryl, and forced him to kneel at her feet. He fought back, begging Kunzite to awaken even as he spat the worst insults he could think of at the bitch. Never in his life had he hated anyone so much as he did Beryl at that moment, but his hate did not save him. Her magic settled over him like liquid lead, smothering all thought, and Jadeite… Became someone else. 

This Jadeite did not have anyone he would call brother or friend. There was only his magnificent, gorgeous Queen, and begrudgingly his fellow Generals who he must work with. He got to his feet eagerly and helped Kunzite drag Nephrite to their Queen. Kunzite didn’t need help holding Nephrite down for re-education on their Queen’s glory, so Jadeite had kept an eye on Zoicite. The freckled ginger was unable to run after what Kunzite had done, but it was disgusting how he was crying. When Nephrite rose, once more understanding their true allegiance, he proved himself by dragging Zoicite to their Queen and holding him down as the Queen did her work.

If it was possible to be sick in your own memories, Jadeite would be vomiting up his intestinal lining as the memories of his enslavement fit into place.

Beryl used them to kickstart the very civil war they’d nearly worked themselves to death to avoid. It was so simple, as she only had to order them to announce how Endymion had been bewitched by Her and they would not stand for their Kingdom to submit to Someone. Most of the nobles and the common people flocked to their banner, and thus to Beryl. She then did to them what she did to their armies: mass enslavement, and taking many, many people away for her experiments. 

There was no strategy used in the war she wages, no tactics, and they do not have the presence of mind to even consider such. They “lead” armies of men and monsters from the frontlines, and thousands die. Beryl proves herself to be an idiot, but they all see that she is not the real commander here when she presents them to their “ruler”: Queen Metallia. Unlike Beryl, it is not a lack of intelligence that sees the war going like this. No, for Metallia this is all perfect. 

Metallia wants energy, which she can consume easily as the monsters slaughter their way into the capital. She does not want to conquer the Earth or rule its people. Her goal aligns with Beryl’s unutterably selfish one purely by chance. If Metallia has the Silver Crystal, Beryl most assuredly can have a bereaved Endymion. Such is how two utterly immoral monsters work together.

Of course, in between battles is no more pleasant than being on the battlefield. Beryl was insufferable before her pact with Metallia, but after it, she is utterly mad. Her ego knows no bounds, and demands stroking, flattery, and submission. Particularly from them, and most especially _him_. It obviously brings her nearly orgasmic pleasure to force him to scrape and bow, plying her with serville compliments. 

The first time he manages to break his enslavement, even partially, is when she commands him to kiss her heels like a dog. His pride won’t allow it, not even for the Queen he “adores”, and the disparity between the desire to follow her commands absolutely and his screaming pride gives him a moment as _himself_. Jadeite does not hesitate to use this one chance to try and kill the bitch, but snapping her neck does not kill her quickly enough. He is made to scream after she recovers enough to cast her enslavement magic, but she does not try to order him to kiss her heel again.

Zoicite also breaks through the enslavement a short time after Jadeite did, but under even worse circumstances. He manages to kill the people who tried to take advantage of his enslavement, but Beryl shows no mercy. He too is made to scream, once he is safely shackled to her again.

Kunzite and Nephrite are never given the chance to find something with which to break their enslavement while the war grinds on. Beryl views Nephrite as the greatest threat among them, as she finds fellow magic users to be more dangerous than him or Zoicite, and so has him wait in attendance on her constantly. Kunzite isn’t kept quite as close, as Beryl tends to order him to make himself visible for morale attacks, but it isn’t too far from Nephrite’s monitoring. 

Their Prince tried to stop them, but there was never really a chance Endymion could win. In hindsight, Jadeite is surprised he managed to put up as much of a resistance as he did. Endymion’s extreme unpopularity and the subsequent reveal of his affair with Her had primarily left him with the remaining alien forces and a very small fraction of loyal supporters. The alien forces were barely worthy of being called an army but Endymion had _somehow_ utilized them to astounding effect, and that was without factoring in the benefit of the fact that no one under Beryl’s command could make a plan. Even after the Guardians they’d relied on so utterly were recalled to Somewhere, they’d delayed Beryl’s armies for an entire year.

Once Beryl took the capital however, they did not act as any sensible army would. They did not consolidate their hold on the city, loot it, destroy it, or even entirely smash the resistance fighters. No, under the orders of Metallia they used the capital as a launch point to chase after Endymion to Somewhere. They landed on Somewhere with their entire army of monstrosities and gutted the utterly unprepared defenders like fish. However, as he and his fellow Generals fought their way into a palace alongside Beryl, they came across a sight that Jadeite wishes he could forget. 

His Prince, his brother in all but blood, had been murdered. The way his chest had been rent said it had been a monster who struck him down, and the dead, blonde woman beside him told them how. Beryl screamed like an animal and raced to their brother, throwing the woman’s corpse to the side before cradling Endymion while she howled like the madwoman she was. 

The four of them then attacked her with the synchronicity and cooperation the enslavement had never allowed, as they were all willing to trade this moment of freedom for revenge. This time, this time they did not merely crush her throat or stab her in the heart. He and Zoicite had learned from their mistakes, and Kunzite and Nephrite followed them in attempting to finally kill the bitch who had caused their brother to die. 

Nephrite countered her flailing attempts at magic as Zoicite used his knives to permanently cripple her, and Jadeite grappled against the bitch’s unnatural strength to give Kunzite the chance to behead her. Their reckless and brutal attacks had seen them all severely injured, to the point they weren’t likely to leave the battlefield alive, but he’d felt the sweetest triumph as Kunzite’s blade cut into Beryl’s neck.

And then, everything **stopped** as they were ripped away from that place, away from their revenge, and sealed into the Negaverse. 

The next thing he remembered was awakening to Beryl’s command, telling them all of how the seal was finally weakening. Queen Metallia needed energy, and he was given the order to gather it for them. Monsters were placed under his command for this purpose, but not the armies of before. He was given a small squad, and their schemes were effective until Sailor Moon appeared-

 _What is that god awful noise?_ Jadeite thought in irritated surprise, shocked from his memories by the sound that crawled into his ears to die. To call it music was to insult the very concept, but the hellacious noise was obviously _meant_ to be music; it had an unmistakable rhythm. He could not rest, or even think, as that noise rattled in his brain like a swarm of angry wasps, and so Jadeite fought to wake up for the first time since he had fallen into his memories.

If he was awake, he could at least silence the sound. Permanently.

Consciousness returned as slowly as a glacier melted in a mildly warm winter. Jadeite first understands he is not laying down, but instead his torso is upright. A five-fingered hand cradles his head, as well as supporting his neck. His mouth is lolling open thanks to a spout of something being held inside it, and some liquid slurry is slowly being poured in.

Fingers gently shut his mouth as the spout is removed, and he can hear whenever it falls _somewhere_ as the hand on his head repositions itself to be able to hold his mouth closed. Embarrassingly, before he regains any control over himself, gentle rubbing along his throat sees him swallow whatever it was involuntarily. It brings to his attention that he hasn’t felt the slightest pang of hunger or thirst, which were common in the Negaverse; when you could survive on pure energy, there was no justification for the food and water your body craved.

 _Someone has been taking care of me, but who?_ Yellow eyes staring down at him in determination flashed before his mind’s eye, but surely not… 

Jadeite forced his eyes to open, and the noise cut off as the arm supporting him tensed. His vision was blurry, unwilling to focus before it sharpened abruptly as his eyes caught a fiery color-

**_Fire._ **

Jadeite screamed as he scrambled away from the fire, trying to escape the burning mass before it could touch him again. The roar of the inferno echoed in his ears as the ultimate betrayal occurred again. How could she! How could Mars turn on him?! Not even a clean and quick death, she wanted him to burn alive!

“General Jadeite, you’re safe. There is no fire. You need to control your breathing.” 

Did she know how much it hurt? How slow and torturous it was, how he could hear and feel his own body sizzle and sear?

“General Jadeite, you’re safe. There is no fire. You need to control your breathing.” 

Jadeite knew he had done things, terrible things under Beryl’s enslavement, but what had he done to deserve _this_? Had Mars ever cared for him at all? Would it be worse if she had or hadn’t? 

“General Jadeite, you’re safe. There is no fire. You need to control your breathing.”

The sound of Elysian jangles inside his ears like a bell, because Mars _never_ had spoken it; he wasn’t even sure if she could. Mars couldn’t be here then. 

Opening his eyes, Jadeite found on the other side of the cell the woman he remembered healing him. She was sitting on the only bed in the cell, where she must have been nursing him, and she looked concerned. His harsh breathing echoed in his ears, but without the presence of fire, he was mastering himself.

“... General Jadeite?” She asked, but this time in the modern language he’d needed to learn to conduct his operations for the Negaverse.

“I’m aware.” He snaps, not truly meaning the sharpness but unable to blunt his tone. She takes no offense, though her eyes stay very firmly locked on his face as she begins to flush. There’s a crumb of sympathy for how it’s so bright and intense, and no chance of being mistaken as a maidenly thing; his skin paints him just as red when he blushes.

“That’s good. I’d like to talk with you, but first…” Still flushing despite the chill expression on her face, she got off the bed and turned to pick up a package. “Since you’re awake, I have clothes for you.”

At her words, Jadeite becomes acutely aware of just how much of a breeze he can feel, and a glance at his body has him flushing as red as the woman. “Y-you! Did you-?!”

She shook her head as she stepped closer with the package, eyes still being careful not to so much as peek. “Absolutely not. You didn’t have-” Discomfort flashed across her face and Jadeite restrained the flinch at what she meant. “And I didn’t feel comfortable trying to clothe you, so I kept you covered until you woke.”

Snatching the package from her fingers, Jadeite gave the clothes a look over as she then pointedly turned her back to him. The clothes weren’t anything special, but they were large and roughly his size. Pulling them on saw they were a little tight, as he was much more muscular than the average man of his height, but he was modestly covered.

“You may turn around now.” He commanded, mind speeding through scenarios of how to handle this turn of events. Her actions so far said she was an ally to him, but they were in a _cell_ ; no attempts to hide the bars had been made. 

It was gratifying that she followed his command without issue, but Jadeite wasn’t stupid enough to think it was because she was obedient or subordinate. If he was lucky - very, very, lucky - she would perhaps respect him. Despite his pride saying he deserved respect, for his abilities and for his self, there was almost no reason for her to do so. The Kingdom he had served and had been forced to bring down, was erased from the face of the planet; he was no one.

Taking the moment to finally observe her without panic, fear, or pain clouding his mind, Jadeite found that she _must_ be equivalent to what the Guardians of Somewhere were. She looked nothing like the Guardians of his time had, barring similar-looking white gloves, but he would know the Crystal embedded in her sternum anywhere. Somehow, the Golden Crystal had found itself a bearer outside of the royal line and one who could actually _use it_. 

Knowing now that his potential ally was the Guardian of the Golden Crystal, it made her fiery yellow eyes much more… suggestive. Endymion had been uncomfortable to discuss it even with them, but he had eventually confessed he had been born with lesser versions of the blessings they had been gifted. As he aged they grew with him, until he was their match. 

“You have the advantage of me Guardian, and my sincere thanks for your… rescue.” Jadeite forced out, even the mention of the event making his heart pound. 

“I’m glad I was able to get there in time, and that I was able to help. Shall we sit down? We’ve… got a lot to discuss I think.” She gestured to the sitting area, and Jadeite agreed it was for the best to be civilized about this. He wanted her to answer him, not to leave him here to rot. 

After they sit down at the small, oddly elegant table with a crystalline tea service, the Guardian speaks first. “My name is Hisayo, and I’m the…” Her brows furrowed as she frowned in thought. “I’m uncertain if there’s a name for what I am. The planet calls me “Power,” but I have no idea if that’s fitting.”

Well, that was an easy way to earn a little goodwill that she’d left open for him. “I’m fairly certain you’re comparable to the Guardians that were aligned with Someone.” 

Her frown deepened and thought gave way to confused suspicion. “I’m sorry, could you say the name of their allegiance again? You said Someone, not a proper name.”

Jadeite blinked as she switched to Elysian for a moment before he considered her words. He frowned as well. Why on Earth would he not say the name? “They were sworn to Someone of Somewhere- What _is_ this? Why am I unable to say or even remember the names?”

It irritated him as her frown eased, confusion dissipating into certainty. “I believe you’re affected by the… attack that took place at the end of the war. Not totally, as you otherwise wouldn’t have _any_ knowledge, but are you trying to say the proper name in their language?”

Jadeite considered it and trying to think on it made his head begin to ache. Trying to examine his memory felt like the very knowledge had been scrubbed from him. But, if he bent his mind to consider it in Elysian… “The Sailor Guardians were… aligned to… Queen Serenity of the Silver Millenium.”

He needed a moment to let the ache fade, but he could now think of it without pain or blankness. _The Sailor Guardians were aligned to Queen Serenity of the Silver Millenium… How many of my memories have been affected?_

Tapping a finger against the table’s surface, Jadeite regarded Hisayo. How did she know of all this, especially Elysian when he _knew_ his Kingdom had been erased down to its very language?

“If you don’t mind,” He tried to gentle his voice, but Jadeite found he couldn’t modulate it as well as he used to. _Torture and enslavement will see to you having less patience with social niceties it seems._ “I’d appreciate it if you would share how you know all this, and Elysian. I know you must have been born after Elysion’s downfall, as the Golden Crystal had no Guardian beforehand, and after the downfall they released their monster. There should be no way for you to know of my Kingdom or our language.”

Hisayo nodded, and the reflection of light on her hair ornaments caught his eyes. _Not mother-of-pearl then, despite the pearl crown._ “You’re correct, I was born fourteen years ago. However, every night I sleep I was shown a… narrative.” A sardonic twist to her lips made her look even further beyond her years. “I’d watch through many people’s eyes to apparently see how the Imperium treated Elysians, and how the eventual war went. It’s only very recently I’ve ever seen anything after the war, and it’s how I know what happened to Elysion… and presumably to you.” 

Her mouth lost the grim smile in favor of a smaller, more genuine one. “As for how I learned Elysian, it was from you General. You were the most recurring star of my dreams, and you wound up teaching me Elysian and spoken Imperial. I looked forward to dreams about you, as I never saw you during the war. The boredom of watching you deal with the Courts was much better than watching and dying in the war.”

Jadeite knew the only reason his jaw hadn’t dropped in shock was out of pride. He refused to make a fool of himself just because this girl had thrown out something so outrageous. “Not to call you a liar, but, this is an outrageous claim. And invasive if true.”

She shrugged before a hand tapped against the Golden Crystal embedded in her sternum. “I’ve no choice in the matter. The only thing I can do is avoid sleeping, which before this I had a limit on; humans need sleep to continue living. But I can assure you I never had access to thoughts or the like, I just… saw from your literal point of view. And what I did see was piecemeal, scattered across time.”

As she had already proven herself to be his ally by rescuing and healing him, Jadeite supposed it was good that she was a forthright ally. If true, she could have told him anything else to explain herself. He would have because her explanation was unsettling; even if she was never allowed to breach his mind.

“I’d like some proof of this before I believe it. An incident you saw of my life that wouldn’t be well known, perhaps?”

Not taking offense, she gave it a moment of thought before saying, “I don’t know the date of the event, but I’ve never stopped being shocked that you _didn’t_ kill that Imperial official who demanded you lick-”

“I accept your claims as truth!” Burning mortification at that shameful incident had his face flush bright red, even if he had managed to avoid any humiliation and eventually got revenge on the official. Jadeite had made quite sure no one else knew about the incident, so, it was obvious Hisayo must have seen it. 

“Good. Now, I’ve answered your questions so I think you can answer a few of mine. General, how much do you remember?”

There was a mixture of hopefulness and dread in her eyes that didn’t match her cool expression. _She did say she was handed a_ **_narrative_ ** _, and an incomplete one at that. I’d hope in her position that I remembered enough to fill in the blanks._ “My memory is mostly intact. Though, as I presume you’re aware I was…”

She nodded, cool expression chilling to downright frosty at the implied words he couldn’t quite spit out. “I am.”

Jadeite soldiered on, “I can’t vouch for my memory during that time. Beryl’s magic saw to that.” 

Hisayo looked at him for a long moment, before nodding slightly. 

“That's good. I’ll have to bring you my journals later, so we can determine how much we both know. But I’ve two pressing concerns if you don’t mind?”

Jadeite nodded, watching her intently as her expression shifted again. She seemed to favor a “blank” face both as a resting expression and for when she was trying to control herself, so any change was an indication of her state of mind. Zoicite would be able to get more nuance out of it if he was here (and Jadeite had to violently suppress a flinch at the reminder his brothers were still with Beryl) but he was quite good himself. “What are your concerns Hisayo?”

“Firstly, I know that there were three other Generals and that…” She inhaled sharply, biting back a word before continuing, “Beryl managed to seize them as well. It doesn’t seem like the planet can sense them currently, as I had no idea _you_ were alive until it screamed that you needed help. So my first concern is, are the other Generals alive?”

Jadeite took a moment to gather himself as the memories clawed at him, and to bridle the emotions her words stirred. “Yes. Kunzite, Nephrite, and Zoicite were all alive and in Beryl’s control before you rescued me.” He said harshly.

He noted how the Golden Crystal suddenly gained a very faint glow to it as her eyes unfocused, and she was silent for several moments before saying “No, it definitely wasn’t certain anyone else was alive. Apparently you don’t… register as yourselves? Yes, you don’t appear as “General Jadeite” when you’re swamped in corrupted energy. When you were so injured, your actual energy was finally able to break through and allow the planet to see you.”

Jadeite stared at the Golden Crystal, as he now had to grapple with the fact the Crystal was actually speaking to someone. He’d always known, like any Elysian who’d dealt with the Crystal, that there was an intelligence to it; but it had never lowered itself to speak to anyone. Not even the Priests could claim that.

“There’s also the fact Beryl and everyone under her control were sealed into the Negaverse, which is outside normal time and space. We frankly aren’t planet-side unless she’s ordered one of us to collect energy.” He offered to Hisayo and the Golden Crystal, and was rewarded with another display of glowing.

Hisayo muttered to herself, “… That complicates matters. Trying to plan around that will make any liberation…” before listening to the Crystal again. She shook her head, and her eyes refocused on Jadeite.

“We’ll discuss potential options after you’re fully informed. As it is, my second concern is… Well, General. Are you aware your body has been heavily modified?”

* * *

Despite her faint hope, Hisayo was completely unsurprised by the fact that Jadeite was utterly unaware of how he had been experimented on. It very obviously distressed him greatly, as his skin had lost all color to it, but Hisayo had to maintain control. _I haven’t ever truly interacted with him, and I know his experiences must have changed him from the proud General I dreamed of. But there is_ **_no_ ** _way Jadeite has changed enough that he’d forgive me if he thought I pitied him._

“Before I get into what I know, I need to ask how familiar you are with the standard Earthling’s biology?”

And wasn’t it wild to know that Jadeite had never been “human”? That lovely little surprise tidbit had been sandwiched between other pieces of information, and only by her own questions had she gotten a firmer understanding.

Earthlings functionally were a next evolutionary step for mankind as a species, but it was a branch Hisayo doubted would ever reappear on their evolutionary tree. Their existence had been supported by the wells of energy they were born with, which supported the physiology that frankly shouldn’t have been possible. And as apparently those energy wells had been a “blessing” of the planet’s, the fact humans were… humans, with no sign of evolving back into Earthlings, meant something had happened. 

Hisayo supposed that the catalyst could have been the Silence that had struck the Kingdom, as it had ruined so much already, but she had a feeling that wasn’t the case. It was more likely whatever injuries it possibly inflicted were used as justification, as such an investment in the species was likely very costly. _Self preservation does seem to be one of its chief concerns, and the principal is reflected in nature. Animal mothers can and will starve or kill offspring to ensure their own survival._

“I didn’t specialize in medicine, but I am more than familiar with my biology.”

Hisayo pretended to not hear the way his voice wavered at the end, instead turning her attention on how best to show him what had been done. “I’m not at all familiar, so I’ll be repeating what the planet says on the subject. And, let me see…” 

Directing her thoughts at the planet, Hisayo asked, _You can manipulate, reconstruct, and create the atomic structure of anything can’t you? If the rug is used as material, can you construct something like a 3D model for Jadeite?_

  
  


_… It would be simpler to take control of the General’s-_

  
  


_No, absolutely not! I don’t want to ruin our relationship, which taking control of any part of his body_ **_will_ ** _do._

  
  


_Very well. I will provide the construction, but in exchange you will use this as practice._

  
  


Hisayo nodded as the planet further explained its bargain. It was a good deal in the terms of keeping the planet from destroying any chance of having even a mildly friendly relationship with Jadeite, and the cost of further practicing the principle of her specialized Chain construction wasn’t something she would object to. She’d needed twenty times to make two Chains - one for each job, as currently trying to make one Chain that did both was a complete bust - that would barely survive for a minute. As it was, the ones on Jadeite’s neck were Chains #221 and #222. 

“Yes, I’ll construct models so you can see what I’m repeating.”

It was simple to inject energy into the rug via her feet after the Chain construction, disintegrating it into golden dust that flowed up to land on the table in two piles. The planet provided the “blueprints” for the models, and Hisayo concentrated on constructing them. Her results weren’t perfect, but the planet took control of the energy wherever she was about to mangle it beyond use as a 3D model.

“Alright, this is the model that will demonstrate the standard Earthling physiology and that one will reflect your current state General. We’ll be starting from the bottom up, which in this case is the skeleton. Now, as you can see, your model has much higher bone density. The spine is of special note with how much it's been strengthened …” 

Jadeite admirably kept control of himself as she narrated the planet’s analysis, asking questions almost as if this were purely academic. Though there was some confusion over the redundant systems, as Earthlings already _had_ a secondary heart; Jadeite’s was apparently a transplant now, from hell only knows what.

“And that’s your nervous system. Another question I had was if it’s improved your reaction time? Otherwise the, ahem, sensitivity to my energy suggested… Other uses.”

Hisayo tried not to flinch at the haunted look that flashed across his face. “The increased sensitivity is likely what gives me my improved reaction timing, as I’m certain it’s improved several-fold.”

Nodding, Hisayo ordered her energy to reabsorb every bit of energy that went into making and stabilizing the models before reshaping the material. _It’s a little easier each time, and faster too. If I’m lucky, my future tests with recreating the Lorn Star’s effect will show similar improvements after this!_

“Now that you understand what’s been done, I need to tell you what this results in. When you were healed, a curse of stasis was destroyed. However, in hindsight, it was as much to stabilize you as it was to forcibly prevent any growth.” Hisayo began to construct two models, following the pattern to make two brains that were anomalous compared to the colored network that were the rest of the models.

“Currently, your body’s modifications can be considered perfect. They work without issue, rejection, or degradation. However, they cannot be considered a complete product. Your body is neither Earthling, monster, or a stable fusion of both. Instead, your modifications place you firmly between Earthling and monster. Because of this, you possess your own energy as well as the corruptive energy… And this renders your existence unsustainable without external aid.”

Leaving the Earthling model to sit, Hisayo doubled down on Jadeite’s model as she needed to mimic the “motion” of corruptive energy. “I discovered the issue when I was performing a checkup after the healing, and found your body was… Hmm, I think the way to put it would be _parched_. Every tissue and sinew of your body would absorb a tiny percentage of my energy until they were healthy again. This is because the corruptive energy is a mixture of parasitic and vampiric to your own energy General, and it’s able to overpower your energy’s recovery time.”

She had the model demonstrate, the purple-black colors overtaking the faltering jewel tones of Jadeite’s energy and surging towards the purple-black spots appearing on his brain.

“The planet isn’t sure what the effect would be if the energy is allowed to take root in your brain, but it did suggest it might… mutate it, or possibly attempt to re-enslave you. Neither of us want to actually find out what the end result is, so it broke down the corruptive energy and bolstered your own before we tried to figure out a solution.”

Hisayo took back her energy from the models, and then sent the command for the material to reform back into the rug. She still needed the framework provided by the planet, but for the first time she constructed something perfectly; the planet didn’t need to shape the rug at all.

“As we apparently cannot revert your body to the way it was without killing you, I only could make a method to keep you stable. I don’t think you’ve noticed it yet, but please feel your neck.”

Jadeite did so wordlessly, though the moment his fingers touched the fine, necklace-like chains that nothing could remove, his eyebrows furrowed. “While I thank you for your efforts on my behalf and your forthrightness about my,” He paused, “My medical history, why are there _magical chains_ on my neck.”

Hisayo couldn’t hide the flinch this time, not when she could hear the slight note of panic that had entered his voice. “General, this is the only method I can offer you.” She brazened through the wobble in her voice, because she’d made the choice damnit. 

“Part of my abilities is the ability to construct unbreakable Chains that only can be removed or destroyed by my will. The planet told me how I could take this one step further and infuse the Chains with my energy, so it could bolster your own energy, and with the ability to absorb the corruptive energy in your body. I haven’t been able to construct a Chain with both abilities, so there’s one Chain for each. And they’re on your neck as your head is our priority to protect.”

General Jadeite’s skin was very, very pale as he stared at Hisayo intently, but she couldn’t buckle. For all she hated this, it was the best method she had.

“ … You’re asking me to accept… much on good faith. Even if you’re the Guardian of the Golden Crystal, this is-!”

Hisayo inhaled sharply as she felt the fading interest of the planet resurge, and a thin jolt of golden energy emerged from the crystal to smack into Jadeite. Thumping the crystal embedded in her sternum, Hisayo demanded, _What did you do?!_

  
  


_Verification. The General knows now that you have not lied to him._

  
  


Indeed, Jadeite’s color seemed to improve as she watched. Did he trust the planet so much? Or did he just understand how the planet operated? “ … I’ve been corrected. Please understand I meant no offense-”

Hisayo waved her hands lightly in front of her to stall any apologies from the proud man. She understood, completely. “No, it’s alright. I think you probably need some time to… think over everything. And I need to get back to my duties.”

Hisayo stood up from the table, moving away as Jadeite softly asked “Duties?”

She didn’t look back at him as she said, “Yes. I have to go kill monsters now. I’ll come back later, General, after you’ve had some time to think.”

Willing herself to the slaughter before she was caught in more talk, Hisayo felt herself relax slightly as a strike had a monster exploding. 

_What am I becoming,_ _when it’s easier to kill than to talk to a man I’ve wanted to meet?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had tons of fun creating a more fleshed out situation of the Elysion and the Moon Kingdom, as well making a timeline of events that didn't revolve totally around "love at first sight, then somehow we all Die cause of it." And oh, the medical horror was especially fun to plot out since I don't have access to "Silver Crystal Fixes All."


	10. Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBH I'd love to blame how quarantine didn't really stop work from happening for me as to why this took so long  
> the *real* reason is I instead keep AUing my own works and so all my creative energy was spent on stuff that may, one day, eventually be a oneshot or spinoff

Placing a bookmark to hold his place in the dream journal, Jadeite moved to his own notebook to jot down pieces of information to cross-reference before penning a finalized report in a  _ different _ notebook. _ Even now I’m still doing paperwork,  _ he noted wirely before leaning back in his chair. A look at the clock that had been placed on the small table he worked at said he had ten minutes before Hisayo returned for him.

_ Just enough time to think about how… odd my rescuer is. Again. _

The behavior shift had started the moment Hisayo mentioned her “duty” that day, nearly two weeks ago. At the time he had been grateful to have some privacy after the barrage of information, because he desperately needed to come to terms with everything. Learning what had been done to his body, the fact Hisayo couldn’t undo what had been done, and that he would be dependent on her to survive… It had been difficult. 

_ My Power keeps faith with Us, General. If you demand that she tries, the process would be exactly the same as your healing; but your entire body would need to be deconstructed. You would not survive it, even if she managed the reconstruction. _

  
  


The voice of the planet still rang like bells in his mind when he thought of the words.  _ Even now I’m still an Elysian. Nothing else could have assured me at that moment that Hisayo wasn’t another Beryl in disguise, maliciously holding my life in her hands, _ He thought quietly as he rolled his pen between his fingers and considered the previous events.

* * *

_ After Hisayo had left to her duty, and five hours of thinking about his situation, Jadeite had come to terms with everything… as much as possible. He was alive, and he yet had the chance to rescue his brothers; those were the things to concentrate on for now. Of course, the following three hours meant he had to consider what the hell he was going to do with his rescuer.  _

_ If this had happened in Elysion, the primary way to repay her would have been to have offered his hand in marriage. It was one of the greatest honors he could give, as he had remained firmly unbetrothed, and potentially avoided needing to grant her a boon. Boons were always a risky business since you would be obligated to fulfill whatever request it was, so long as it was within your means, which is why it was never the primary repayment if one could help it.  _

_ Yet since he did not find her very attractive - she simply didn’t possess the features that enticed him, despite being pretty - nor was she a citizen of Elysion, that option wasn’t on the table. As it was, he had no wealth or power in this age to have made any marriage offer enticing. Indeed, he didn’t even hold citizenship in any country as he had not planned for a long-term undercover operation while under Beryl’s control.  _

_ He’d turned over the issue in his mind for hours, as no partnership would remain so when the power disparity went unaddressed; and he very much wanted a partnership with the Guardian of his planet. He would be relying on her for his health and frankly, with how little he was prepared to truly live in this time, he needed a partner anyways. While he could seek out Sailor Moon now that he knew her true identity, and attempt to convince her of the truth of what had happened to him, Jadeite hadn’t been blinded to the fact the girl was utterly unsuited to her status. _

_ Sailor Moon was young, and obviously untrained. That she had managed to continuously beat him anyways spoke of her potential, but it didn’t make her into someone he’d consider working with. If he had faced her as he was now, with a clear and free mind, it would have been his victory. Jadeite couldn’t partner with someone who’d wind up playing subordinate to him.  _

_ Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars offered no more reassurance than Sailor Moon did, but the very thought of going to  _ **_them_ ** _ made him feel ill.  _

_ Hisayo was his only potential ally worthy of the title. She was powerful and competent from what he had seen, and she was well informed on the true history of his circumstances. Her trustworthiness was vouched for by the one authority he could never doubt, and most importantly… Hisayo had implied that she would be planning similar rescue attempts for his brothers, of her own free will. _

_ Of course, he was interrupted from any attempts to plan on how to make their current relationship into a partnership by the sudden reappearance of the Guardian. She had been pristine, untouched by whatever she meant by “killing monsters,” yet the vitality she had displayed while talking to him eight hours ago had vanished. _

_ “General, you’re still awake.” She’d said, so steadily that Jadeite had wondered where the young woman before had gone. _

_ “Yes, I had much to think over. Now, Hisayo, as there are no amenities here I’d like to be taken somewhere I can bathe.” _

_ His innocent request had cracked the steadiness, causing her brow to furrow. “Is that safe? You said the Negaverse is outside normal space-time, so there must be teleportation to get in and out of it.” _

_ It was always reassuring to have proof that your allies could think for themselves, as he hadn’t told her that was  _ **_exactly_ ** _ how they moved from Earth to the Negaverse. “Yes, that’s correct. Going to and from the Negaverse requires someone to be able to teleport. Though there is a “door” of sorts that doesn’t require teleportation… if you’re willing to go through the arctic to get to it.” _

_ She was quiet for a moment, conferring with the Golden Crystal, before she spoke again. “Is it safe then to take you out of here? Can they lock onto your position for remote teleportation? I don’t know if I can do anything to block it if they can.”  _

_ It had been obvious she was now purposefully trying to keep herself calm, but Hisayo wasn’t someone used to concealing her emotions. Jadeite could pick up her worried fear by how her voice began to rise slightly, and how the small expressions on her face had shifted. _

**_It is good to know she’s invested in my wellbeing,_ ** _ he’d thought with a slight warmth, even if it had been a bit confusing on why she would already be so personally invested. This went beyond a mere investment brought about by saving his life. No, oddly enough, she was obviously concerned for Jadeite the person and not Jadeite the strategic resource. _

_ “They can’t do as you’re thinking. The only one with true scrying capability is my brother, Nephrite, and Beryl will not allow him to waste time or energy looking for a dead man. Even so, he would have to come in person to teleport me to the Negaverse.” _

_ It had not assured her as much as he hoped, as she continued to worriedly question him “You’re certain?” _

_ “Very.” He’d then sighed, and admitted to what he still considered embarrassing even without the enslavement distorting his mind. “I have only a minor affinity to magic outside of my innate gifts, and teleportation isn’t innate to me. I cooperated with Kunzite, before my operations began, to figure out the limitations of teleporting. So I can assure you Hisayo, the Negaverse isn’t capable of kidnapping me without a fight.” _

_ In the end, she had folded with the caveat of remaining in the bathroom with him the first time. Jadeite had agreed with no small amount of exasperation, and had been proven right when he managed to clean himself without a single attack on his person.  _

_ After he was cleaned, Hisayo showed him to her guest bedroom with the words “This is your room now, for as long as you need it.” _

_ The room was quite plain, but it was more than he was expecting. “Thank you Hisayo.” _

* * *

Tapping the capped pen against the table, Jadeite eyed the journals as he muttered to himself, “I know now why she was already invested.”

* * *

  
  


_ After she had given him her guestroom to use as his own, Hisayo had released her transformation for the first time in his presence. She was smaller than her Guardian self, a respectable 5’8 instead of the 5’11 she reached with her heels, and she looked  _ **_tired_ ** _. The addition of exhaustion had him remember that despite the sheer power at the Guardians’ disposal, they weren’t the gods they could appear to be. It’d prompted him to tell her to get some rest, which she surprisingly didn’t refuse. She went to her bedroom, down the hall from his room, and by all appearances went to sleep. _

_ Jadeite later was woken up by her scream that night, automatically bursting into her room with all intent to destroy whatever had attacked her… Only to find her already sitting at a small table, writing in a notebook. Sweaty with adrenaline-fear - and it was an unwelcome surprise his nose could now pinpoint she’d explicitly been afraid - the look in her golden eyes had been only a hair's breadth from lifeless.  _

_ “Sorry, just some bad luck General. Tonight wasn’t a good dream.” She offered him with a one armed shrug, continuing to write on. _

_ “I’m sure I’ll eventually have the same issue.” He stated, trying to keep the sharp bitterness from overwhelming him at the very real truth of it. Jadeite exhaled in a controlled motion, letting the combat readiness fade from his body before walking over to her. She did not hide her writing from him, though he was sure that for any modern observer it’d be an indecipherable mess. Japanese kanji intermixed freely with English characters as she stumbled through syntax like a drunk, and that was without considering the Elysian script that made his heart jolt to see. _

_ “May I ask if this is your journal?” _

_ It had been a small, nearly off hand remark about her dream journals, but Jadeite had been trained to memorize such things. As the General that had the unenviable task of dealing with the Court the most, being able to recall your conversations with accuracy and precision was a key skill. _

_ “Mmm, the latest… And now I’ll need to move onto the next one.” She said as she crammed the last lines of observation and opinion on the final page, before flipping to the cover and scrawling on the inside “Journal #23, filled in 1992.” It was not a small novelty journal she’d filled either. The thing was the sort used by people with a serious commitment to journalling, even if Hisayo had actually been tightfisted with her money; faux leather fooled no one who knew the real stuff. _

_ “Since we’re both awake, and unlikely to be able to fall back asleep,” One look at her face confirmed that, and Jadeite knew he’d need another hour at least before he could try. “Why don’t you show me the other finished journals? Might as well get started.” _

_ Hisayo had given him a strange look, but she agreed to his idea. She took him to the other room on the second floor, a small private office, and started pulling out stacks of journals similar to the one she had brought with her. One notebook also found its way into the pile, oddly enough, before Hisayo offered him the only chair in the room.  _

_ Preferring to stand by the desk, he refused, and she sat down before talking. “Alright, here’s every complete journal I have. The notebook is my attempt to try and figure out the timeline of the events I see. It’s… pretty bad, to be honest. I’ve only been able to sort out a vague series of events for the pre-war dreams, despite having a fairly stable order for the war dreams.” _

_ Picking a journal at random, Jadeite noted it was marked as complete on “04, 1984.” Skimming the first few pages revealed Hisayo had dreamed of a unnamed foot soldier in what he suspected was Kunzite’s army - the Elysian slang that had been transliterated into English was hadn’t been popular with anyone else's forces - and his interactions with the company of alien soldiers he had been stationed with. The usual insults of primitive and such were scattered about, as the aliens looked down on the soldier’s company despite suffering worse fatalities. It ended rather abruptly with the shaky kanji of “I died quickly.” _

**_1984… That would have made her… Seven?_ ** _ It was not a comforting realization to have as he placed the journal back down. _

_ “Very well. Show me what you have, and I’ll see what I recognize.” He said, and settled in for a long talk. _

_ After they’d spent the rest of the night going over her recordings (a chaotic mess even with her attempts to organize them,) Hisayo had transformed back into her Guardian form. A little prodding revealed she was going back to wherever they’d been so she could do her “duty,” but when he suggested she feed herself first…  _

_ “I had some lemons, that’ll tide me over till I need to eat.” _

_ Jadeite was concerned by her actions, but he couldn’t find a basis from which to criticize her. She was an independent Guardian who was seeing to all his needs, and he’d yet to prove he could contribute to her situation. But he surprised himself as words found themselves falling out of his mouth anyways. _

_ “Fine, take me with you then. I can read through your journals in the… What  _ **_do_ ** _ you call that area?” _

_ She took a moment too long for it to have been anything but something made up on the spot. “The dimension is Tartarus, and the furnished cell is the Sett.”  _

_ “Of course. I can read through your journals in the Sett just as easily as here, and it will be more secure.” Now that he’d voiced it, it was obvious to himself that the idea of being left behind - with no way of contacting her - unsettled him. But was it for his own sake, or hers, that he was worried for?  _

* * *

Staring at the innocent looking objects, Jadeite severely doubted Hisayo remembered just what she had written in her older journals. If she had, there was no way she would have casually handed over the journals uncensored of her thoughts on him. 

Her remarks on him varied over time, of course. She freely called him a jackass in the first few dreams, spelled out in blockish English, before adding on that he was “at least a jackass with clever comebacks.” Hisayo had penned down she barely knew anything but the shakiest bits of Elysian at the time, yet “the attitude of one is unmistakable, as is the look of someone who’s just got handed a burning retort they can’t find words for.”

But after undergoing a lengthy period where he was the  _ sole _ star of her dreams, the immersion in Elysian had paid off by giving her a rudimentary grasp of the language. Random words in Elysian began to litter the pages as she worked out the grammar and syntax, and amusingly she’d decided all the Courtly flourish he put on his writing as the “standardized” script. With an improved grasp over the language, she’d tried to go back to the earliest dreams to rewrite her impressions… But the intent had been lost in the barrage of war-time dreams that followed. Her Elysian didn’t need to be at the level Jadeite needed to deal with the nobles in order to understand battlefield orders.

After what looked to have been a month of wartime dreams, though subjectively it was more like three months of memory, she’d been switched back to him. Comments such as “I’m so relieved to watch him tear at someone’s ego again” and “I think I’m beginning to understand why he’s so high strung” began to appear as he effectively began to elevate her understanding of Elysian again. His life was seen as a welcome respite from the perspective of half a dozen assorted foot soldiers fighting in a war she couldn’t make heads or tails of. 

_ She really hadn’t been kidding when I featured the most in her dreams. _

The pattern repeated each time Jadeite effectively tutored her into grasping the next level of written and spoken Elysian, bouncing her through war and conspiracy that made no sense without understanding how they’d come about. By the time he had made her fluent enough that she could speak and write to Courtly standards, her comments of him were strictly fond. The comment of jackass still appeared, but it had been modulated with an Elysian prefix to indicate it was… Something of an endearment. Hisayo even expressed that it was a pity she’d never meet him, despite it being something of an idle wish. “I’d like to tell him thanks. He’s taught me how to understand what’s going on, and his life is so… safely boring. The politics he handles is irritating, interesting, and without any harm to us.”

At his current count, by totaling up the amount of his life she’d seen up till now, she’d known him for years. It provided the answer of why she had been so invested in him despite not actually knowing him, yet, the comments in her latest journal seemed to cast doubt on it. 

_ Another reason to be worried, as she  _ **_just_ ** _ finished it and didn’t seem to remember what she’d written. _

“General Jadeite isn’t Jadeite. I need to remember that. We’ve never interacted before, no matter how familiar he is.”

While what she wrote wasn’t wrong exactly - as the level of familiarity and closeness she had with her dreams wouldn’t be appropriate for strangers - something about it seemed off. Almost like it wasn’t just a reminder to remember that for all the time she’d spent with him, Jadeite had only a handful of days with her. 

But as the Guardian in question appeared in the Sett, Jadeite concluded his thoughts. Pieces of the puzzle were missing, but he was confident the picture would make itself known sooner rather than later.

* * *

A knock on his bedroom door comes before the low, tired tones of Hisayo’s voice. “Jadeite, I wanted to let you know there’s someone coming over: Shiori, my legal guardian. If you wish to meet him, it’s safe to do so.” 

Jadeite needs a moment to process what she said, before it hits him again that Hisayo is much younger than her personality or responsibilities would suggest.  _ Speaking of it, why haven’t I seen this Shiori? And why isn’t he concerned about a strange man staying with his ward? _

He’s been living in Hisayo’s former guest bedroom for two weeks now. And yet this is the first time Jadeite’s  _ heard  _ of the man. Hell, Jadeite had actually thought Hisayo had somehow qualified to not need a guardian since her home was plainly devoid of anything resembling signs of having family members. 

_ I might be unfamiliar with Japanese law and much of modern society, but there’s something wrong with this.  _ But there was no point in interrogating Hisayo, especially through his bedroom door, when the man in question would soon be available. “Yes, I’d like to meet this Shiori. Give me a moment to change and I’ll be downstairs.”

“Alright, see you downstairs then.” He could hear her going down the stairs as he grabbed the most respectable looking clothes he currently had, and decided it wouldn’t hurt to groom a little; it’d only help with meeting this Shiori. So, Jadeite brushed his teeth, washed his face, and brushed his hair before buttoning on his shirt and putting on his pants. 

Looking at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t help but _tsk_ at himself.  _ If only I’d something more presentable…  _ He longed for his old uniforms with a vengeance, as it was very easy to look good in them. However, as there was no way he was going to be able to make himself look more presentable, it was time to head downstairs. 

Leaving his bedroom, Jadeite had to pause in the hallway. Nothing had changed about it since Hisayo had brought him here so cautiously, but it felt like he was seeing it for the first time. It was blank, no decoration or photos to be seen. Just plain, white walls, matching how impersonal the guest bedroom had been.  _ I’d thought she didn’t like clutter or decoration, but, is that really the case? Or am I reading too much into this? _

The hallway had no answers, so Jadeite shook his head and moved on. When he got down onto the ground floor, he found that Hisayo wasn’t alone.  _ I didn’t take that long did I?  _

The man sitting at the dining table was tall, slim, and dressed so sharply that the air about him gained an aura of wealth that absolutely didn’t suit this setting. Snow white hair crowned his head, and he wore glasses that only made his odd yellow-green eyes look even colder than they naturally were. Jadeite disliked him on sight. 

_ I swear, if he’s another Zoicite in personality as well as his looks…  _

The other man didn’t greet him as he walked to the table, but kept speaking without pause as Jadeite took a seat next to Hisayo.

“-Yes, the case is getting more complicated. Originally it was merely to help Noah-san resolve the murder charges levied at him, as it was clear the board was trying to dispose of the heir in order to get their hands on the younger children. Then came the evidence that while Noah-san hadn’t murdered his father, his younger adoptive brother  _ had _ in order to keep him from suffocating Noah-san to death. Apparently a paraplegic was not ‘fit’ to succeed the company in his father’s eyes, yet he could not legally oust him.”

Grabbing a teacup and pouring himself a cup, Jadeite watched this “Shiori” as he discussed the unusually dramatic legal case he was involved in. His face’s beauty continued to remind him of Zoicite, but something about his manner, his way of speaking was like thorns being pushed into Jadeite’s skin.  _ Not a single trace of emotion on his face or in his voice, it reminds me of…  _ Taking a sip of his tea absently as Shiori continued on, he nearly spat it back out. 

Never in his life had he tasted such an abominable tea! What madman would chill black tea, then dump a truckload of sugar into it?!

Of course - after forcing himself to swallow the drink, instead of spitting it out as he wanted - he then bore witness to Shiori pouring himself two cups of the vile brew before nearly inhaling it. 

“And now Noah-san is considering hiring you for this battery of lawsuits he wants to conduct?”

“Mmm, yes. The under-the-table weapons trading that’s coming to light is something he’s taking poorly, so he wants to clean house before converting K Corp into something focused on technology.”

“That’ll shock people. Now, Shiori, I’d like to introduce you to Jadeite. Jadeite, this is my guardian, Saitou Shiori.”

Shiori turned to look at Jadeite, finally acknowledging his existence. Locking eyes with the other man, Jadeite felt those thorns digging even more deeply into his skin as Shiori still remained so dispassionate. “A pleasure to meet you at last, Jadeite-san. I’m glad you’ve recovered so smoothly. Though I can see I will need to procure you better clothes, as Hisayo didn’t mention how large you are for your height.”

Jadeite had wondered how much the man knew since Hisayo had described him as “safe to meet.” Apparently he was rather well informed, despite the fact Jadeite  _ knew  _ Hisayo hadn’t actually contacted anyone since he had awoken; with his hearing there was no chance he’d have missed her placing a call. “Thank you for your well wishes, but I owe my recovery to Hisayo. Also, pardon me, but you’re the one who selected my clothing?”

Shiori lightly adjusted his glasses before speaking, “Yes. Hisayo gave me a list of things you would need, and we decided that we would wait and see before spending money on outfitting someone who might decide to depart for his own objectives.”

What exactly had Hisayo thought he would do once he woke? Say his thank-yous and vanish into the ether?

“I’ve no intention of leaving Shiori-san, so yes, I would appreciate a better fitting wardrobe. How much will you be spending?” It would be better to keep track of how much money he cost Hisayo, and possibly her guardian, so that he could aim to repay her eventually.  _ Though I’m not sure I’ll ever not be in debt to her in some fashion,  _ he thought to himself.

“So far as I’m aware Shiori, Jadeite won’t be needing suits any time soon. Daily clothes, workout attire, and  _ possibly  _ some business casual is what he’ll need. Along with the essentials like t-shirts, underwear, socks, and so on.” Hisayo chimed in, before taking a bite from the raw lemon in her hand. No matter how many times he’d seen her do that, it still disturbed him to see her do it. 

“We’ll be sticking to a modest budget then, 150,000 yen.” Jadeite couldn’t help how his eyebrows rose at that number. For all he was incredibly out of touch with modern society still, even he was aware that it was  _ not  _ a modest budget at all. “However, it might need to be increased if Jadeite-san cannot fit into clothing designed for his size.”

“I’ll keep it in mind when I review my expenses for this month.” Hisayo said calmly, confirming  _ she _ was the one shouldering the costs. “Now, aside from Jadeite’s wardrobe, I’m settled for current needs. Future needs, well, firstly I believe you’ll need to arrange for my parents’ house to be cleaned.”

Amazingly, this actually got the man to raise his eyebrows slightly in surprise. It was the first real indication of expression Jadeite had seen on him. “Really? I thought you weren’t going to have anything to do with it until you could legally sell it?”

Jadeite wanted to frown at how the man phrased it, as it only added onto his discomfort with the entire situation. Something about this man bugged him, and the entire relationship between him and his ward was off… What  _ did  _ the damn man remind him of?

“It’s related to Jadeite and another matter. I’m going to need the space the old house has, particularly the five bedrooms beside the master suite.”

“I see… Well, I’ll need to send someone over then to assess it. It’s been more than a year since anyone’s been in residence, so there’s no telling what issues might have cropped up.” Shiori said mildly, draining yet another cup of that vile tea.

“Also, I know this is a bit dubious, but is it within your means to set up four legal identities?”

Jadeite gave Hisayo a shocked look at her boldness, finding it hard to believe she felt she could just tell the man responsible for her well-being that she needed something utterly illegal. Then the guilt tinged gratitude and relief hit, as there was no way she meant these identities for anyone but him and his brothers. 

“Currently it is not. I am a lawyer Hisayo, not a specialist in forgery.” The bland way he said it, how he accepted her brazen words without a hint of emotion, finally had Jadeite figure out why Saitou Shiori’s mere presence felt like thorns digging into his skin: he reminded him of the Guardian of Mercury.

Cold, virulent hate flooded his veins at the thought of the Guardian. If not for the war, he and the other Generals might not have missed the warning signs until Zoisite was in too deep. So long as he lived, he’d never forgive the bitch for how she’d caused him to shut them out… Even if she was long, long dead.  _ What a wretch to have as a legal guardian. No wonder their relationship is so askew; Mercury’s kind can ruin even the most stable bonds. _

However, he bit his tongue and kept every word inside his mouth. No matter how appalled he was to find Hisayo was beholden to a male Mercury, Saitou remained her legal guardian. For whatever reason, Saitou currently bent to her will to the point he hadn’t even so much as asked about the appropriateness of Jadeite living alone with Hisayo. If that were to change, they’d both suffer the consequences of it.

“-Yes, of course until we figure out something for Jadeite’s legal status we’ll try to lay low. Neither of us are foolish Shiori, but right now Jadeite is entirely reliant on me. That’s not a state either of us would be comfortable tolerating indefinitely.” 

Mastering himself in time to pick up the tail end of Hisayo’s rejoinder to Saitou’s questions, Jadeite gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement. While he would bear with it for now, in the future it would need to be addressed.  _ Not that I plan to leave Hisayo, even then, _ he thought to himself, before the tone of it brought the train of thought to a halt. 

Was he feeling  _ protective _ over her? 

It disgruntled him that he couldn’t argue it, or even assign the protectiveness due to the memories Saitou stirred. In the two weeks since she had saved his life, and kept him sane, it was impossible not to notice she needed someone to look out for her. No matter how her shifting attitude to him confused him, Jadeite was an experienced soldier; he could see how she was approaching a cliff she’d never climb back up if left to recklessly advance.

_ I  _ **_was_ ** _ looking for a way to show my worth as a partner, and not as a dependent…  _ Some people simply needed observers to ensure their health, or to ensure they wouldn’t throw everything away on the sacrificial altar of duty. While sorting out her information was important for the both of them, it ultimately was a single-use task. Once it was done, there would be nothing else to do beyond examining any new dreams she had. This however, stepping into the role of observer, would firmly cement his status as her ally, as her  _ partner. _

“Jadeite? Do you have anything to add?”

Blinking rapidly as he pulled himself from his thoughts, he noted Hisayo’s puzzled look and how Saitou was standing. The man must be leaving then. “No, not at this time. We’ll see after the clothing order is delivered.”

“Very well. Good day Hisayo, Jadeite-san. Hisayo, please call if anything pops up. My secretaries have standing orders to patch you through for anything but certain meetings.

Nodding to the man, Jadeite kept silent until the front door had closed and he knew the man wasn’t in listening range. 

“What the hell was that? You said that man was your guardian, but no guardian worth the title would have acted like that.”

It’d be hysterical that his snapped question put such a look of bafflement on her face, if it wasn’t just depressing to have further confirmation she considered this normal.

“Shiori  _ is  _ my legal guardian General Jadeite; he’s always behaved this way with me.”

_Of course the Mercury copycat would have, of course._ “That man displayed as much attachment and concern for your wellbeing as I would a plant. Furthermore, he took orders _from_ you and not vice versa. Also, why are you using my title again?”

It had been a surprise to hear her drop the title so unexpectedly, but he had taken it as a good sign for his efforts to gain her regard. Why had she resumed using it?

“I didn’t use your title around Shiori as he’s not fully aware of all the details. Are you alright if I just call you ‘Jadeite’?”

Not fully aware? Then how exactly was Shiori ‘safe for him to meet’? From the conversation it was blatantly obvious he knew a great deal, but had it really been devoid of critical context?

“Yes. I believe that after living and working together for two weeks, on top of everything else, we are more than ready to drop the titles and address one another by name. But Hisayo, how did Saitou qualify as safe to meet if he was unaware of who I am?”

The explanation he receives clarifies things in the most infuriating way. It is not that Saitou somehow made a contract with the Golden Crystal that infuriates Jadeite - he would have to be a staggeringly blind hypocrite to do so - or that he had sold his lifelong service to an unborn child in the name of power. What permanently cements Jadeite’s personal disgust and contempt for Saitou Shiori, disregarding even his resemblance to Mercury, is how he executed his contractual duty.

Instead of being honest with Hisayo as soon as she could understand the deal, and thus building a strong foundation regardless of its origin in duty, Saitou had allowed her to think he was personally invested in her. He presented himself as an uncle-figure, and eventually as a trustworthy guardian who listened with utmost seriousness to even a child’s thoughts. Saitou had even seemingly given her great freedom and trust, allowing her to act as she pleased without ever indicating he thought she was incapable of doing so responsibly. Fourteen years of such treatment, creating a very strong bond with the only adult figure Jadeite suspected to have ever been consistently in Hisayo’s life… Only for her to find after the shock of becoming the Guardian to Earth, it was all a lie. 

_ It begins to make sense now, her behavior. Saitou’s long-running deception and its callous reveal has damaged her trust, and likely her own judgement of people. Especially anyone to do with the Golden Crystal, who in her mind will likely regard her in a similarly clinical fashion. _

Saitou’s terrible mishandling would need to be something to keep in mind as he figured out how best to be the partner she clearly needed. Jadeite consoled himself that at least Saitou had not ruined Hisayo’s ability to trust, unlike the woman he so very strongly reminded Jadeite of. Hisayo’s behavior, and journals, showed that she was unable to entirely remove her desire to finally know Jadeite in person, nor could she remove her care for his personal wellbeing. No one who had retreated utterly from caring about others in self-defense would be so personally concerned about danger to his person; her extreme discomfort with keeping an eye on him in the bathroom wasn’t something that an uncaring person would suffer.

“Alright, it’s good to know that we can count on him in such matters then. I agree that he shouldn’t be fully informed, as he does not need to know in order to fulfill his obligations to us. Now that’s settled, let’s make something to eat.”

Jadeite overrode her protests about duty and “not needing to eat so long as she remained in her immortal body,” as he ordered her about the kitchen. He did not hold back his biting commentary this time, treating her like he’d treat any equal of his in Elysion, prodding at her verbally until she began to actually respond. It was tentative at first, but she rallied to his carefully-curated vitriol in a more relaxed fashion than he’d ever seen before.

“The eggs are as scrambled as your brains Jadeite; and  _ no _ , I didn’t get any bits of eggshell in them.”

He hid his triumphant satisfaction even as he volleyed back at her, because this was proof he was  _ right. _ For all her defensiveness and caution, Hisayo could not shut him out. And Jadeite would exploit it for every bit he could, because it was what a good ally and partner would do: help her recover from the damage done by Saitou’s callousness.

* * *

Hisayo might have watched through Jadeite’s eyes for years, but it didn’t lend itself to figuring out what the man thought. 

The first two weeks had made safe, comfortable sense. Jadeite was professional, cordial, but never crossed any personal lines as he endeavored to make himself busy. He’d set about sorting her journals into coherency with all the razor focus she remembered from her dreams, and had made excellent headway; though he’d occasionally mention he needed to consult with one of the other Generals over this or that, as Jadeite hadn’t focused on information related to some areas her dreams took her through.

It had been easy to keep her distance from the man, to let polite respect rule her interaction instead of anything with real weight to it. Even though they’d lived together, spent nearly every waking moment together, it had been like interacting with a coworker. You’d make small talk, complain about work together, and be happy to never dig any deeper than the shallow, lukewarm relationship you had.

Something had changed though, and it was  _ hard _ to keep in mind that Jadeite wasn’t someone she could get close to. When his brothers were rescued, when it was all resolved, she didn’t entertain the notion they’d have forged some sort of bond of fellowship. No, it was obvious they’d go their own way, figure out how to survive in a world ten thousand years removed from their own. They’d seek her out in order to maintain their health, but that would only last until the men found a way to manage their health without relying on her. 

Yet Jadeite was an incredibly skilled man when not under magical enslavement, and a great deal of his skill had been honed in the name of dealing with societal movers and shakers. He was good at social matters when he wanted to be, but Hisayo could not understand why he wanted to be  _ now _ . Every dry, cutting comment begged for a follow up, and she wasn’t good at resisting getting drawn into a squabble that’d brighten her mood. 

It was dangerous to let herself fall into whatever he was doing, especially when he kept demanding she regiment how much time she spent in the overrun area. Time was precious, she needed to advance as quickly as possible in order to outpace the clock. She was wasting her limited time by snatching a handful of hours of sleep, eating meals she didn’t really need, and all the little minutiae Jadeite would distract her into doing.

The fact her mood was better than it had been before Jadeite had proven himself to be distressingly like how she had imagined it might be to speak with the man, it only proved how dangerous this all was. However, her good mood did not survive his latest demand.“You want to  _ come with me? _ ”

“I’m sorry, have you yet to wake up that bundle of fluff you call a brain? Because, yes, that’s exactly what I just said.”

Hisayo could not follow the logic pattern Jadeite must have taken from drinking his coffee (saturated with chocolate milk to the point it was debatable to call it coffee) to demanding to join her in eradication. Not that he knew exactly the details of what she did, as she hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell him. Considering he slept about as well as she did, for similar reasons, Hisayo did not want to rip open old wounds; or inflict new ones. 

“It’s not pleasant.” That was to put it mildly, but there were few ways to describe it if she wasn’t going to be graphic.

“Damning with faint praise?” He asked sardonically, arching an eyebrow and visibly unbowed. But Hisayo could not think of a valid way to refuse him, not without explaining. And maybe it would be better if he did see. Maybe it would make the following explanations more tolerable, if he had seen it first hand. 

Nodding more to herself than his question, she said “You’ll need to fight like your life is on the line, because it will be. Don’t be afraid to ask to be sent back.”

The playfulness left him at that, and Hisayo was grateful to see his seriousness surface. Tartarus was not a forgiving place, and she’d be long, long dead if she wasn’t stronger than anything it had yet to throw at her. She’d prefer Jadeite to be offended and alive, rather than pacified and dead.

He did her the respect of seriously considering her warning for a few moments, before nodding anyways. “I’ll keep your warnings in mind, but I do need to understand what your duty is. And frankly, if you weren’t exaggerating, I would like to see you in combat as well.”

Knowing that he was a remarkably capable individual, she would have to trust he’d be cautious from here on out. After all, he was trusting her to be capable and knowledgeable about Tartarus. Though as she transformed into her immortal body, she did admit there was one, final chance she could give him. 

Striding over to the now even smaller man, it was easy to wrap her arms about his torso and teleport them into the slaughterhouse’s airspace. The ability to fly combined with her strength meant she could easily hold him safely aloft while he actually got an eyeful of the screaming, writhing swarms of monsters below as Jadeite’s eyes were more than good enough to see in the perpetual darkness of Tartarus. His body tensed into a statue as he beheld the frenzied hellscape, and his voice was tense and low as he spoke through the screams. 

“ _ This _ ? This is what you meant by hunting monsters?”

In hindsight, hunting was a bad way to describe it. The only thing she could say she hunts here is Star Seeds, and that’s more in the vein of haphazardly stumbling across them. “Yes. I need to keep the population down until I’m strong enough to handle it permanently. Are you sure you want to join me?”

The tension in his body only wound tighter as he considered it, before a cold “Yes” sealed his choice. 

Teleporting down to the floor, a cordon of chains sprung up to give them a bit of leeway as Jadeite removed himself from her hold. She stayed long enough to watch his first fight against a monster, only leaving when he proved he was able to kill it without a single scratch; there was work to be done, even if Jadeite was pitching in.

Finding a cluster of monsters, Hisayo dove right into the fight. And it was  _ dove _ , as she was trying to learn how to consider a fight in three dimensions. Flying was a very useful tool, but fighting effectively with all the new avenues it opened up was something only experience could give. As a skill it had moved up in priority after the planet put that the Silver Imperium had fled something into a new light, and that it was apparently  _ inevitable _ she would inevitably need to fend off attackers from outer space.

While she didn’t really understand how space-based combat would work, unless the enemies were similar to the monsters here, Hisayo did understand that space did not bother with 2D fighting. There was no up or down in space, hence why her flight ability was closer to something along the lines of very specialized telekinesis than anything else. However directed by her will her flight was though, it absolutely did not translate into working perfectly at first.

Removing gravity, friction, and being able to center herself to the ground beneath her feet, meant her entire understanding of fighting was forced to be re-evaluated. Trying to strike a monster’s head while upside down and moving faster than a human eye could track was incredibly difficult. 

Aim the heel’s spike into its abdomen. Pierce the kidney area even as the force of the kick craters the torso, now use the body flying into a monster to fly down to the ground. Reverse direction to shoot up to add speed force to your punch. Spin on axis to evade strike, use the rotation to backhand the monster into paste. Stop spinning before dizziness-

Hisayo screamed in pained fury for the first time in a while, as a monster managed to strike her in midair and showed her how her flight could be used against her. Unless she had the presence of mind to assert control over it, she would wind up flying away uncontrollably. Considering that her already effortless flying would likely be even more absurd in zero gravity, a similar strike could have her spinning for a thousand miles before she got control over it.

Feeling frustrated by how it seemed that every tiny step forward in mastering her abilities only gave her more complications and issues that needed resolving before she had to be  _ perfect,  _ Hisayo canceled her flight and resumed fighting in a traditional, 2D manner. The difference was immediate in how much easier it was for her to fight without flight, which aggravated her further. The very real difference in the styles pointed out it meant she would need to also include rapid alterations between 2D and 3D fighting to ensure the transitions wouldn’t become a lethal trip-up. 

The frustration and fury flowed away in the fight however, leaving her to settle back into the absolute focus that came easier each time she fought. It wasn’t efficient to get frustrated, or to rage against how she never seemed to make substantial progress without getting the rug yanked out from under her. And she  _ needed  _ to be efficient in her time spent, precise with each action and plan. 

Bring the knee up and use the spike to piece the abdomen. Carry through to turn it into a side-sweeping kick, launching the body into a monster trying to be sneaky. Punch, pivot, strike, and make a chain cordon. Call the Lorn Star and begin checking for Star Seeds. Find two, send to chained ball in Sett. 

“Hisayo!”

It was a matter of thought to appear by Jadeite, take in the respectable pile of corpses, and begin to eliminate the remaining ones. She was glad he’d actually called when he needed her.

* * *

Watching as Hisayo kills all the remaining Youma with precise, lethal power, without a sign of wear or exhaustion, Jadeite feels like he has gotten another key piece to the increasingly disturbing puzzle. Every day, for nearly half the day, she comes to this horrifying place and kills. She doesn’t stop for rest or pain, she just tears through everything in front of her with the focus that he has only seen from his brothers and Venus. 

Which means that her lifelessness when returning from her, no longer mysterious, duty is due to  _ that _ . There was no particular word for it so far as he knew, but he had seen it frequently in his soldiers; especially as the war had grinded on. They would remove themselves from what they were doing, numbing their emotions into a null state that would allow them to continue fighting.  _ The bright spot in this is that she is not as bad as some were. She still can shake it off, it’s not a permanent state for her.  _

But as she comes to a stop - within a minute of teleporting here, which would be an alarming display if he didn’t know she was firmly on his side - Jadeite can tell this is not the end of it. No, there’s something in her lifeless expression that conveys that there’s something else to come. 

It’s not immediate. No, she first does something to disintegrate the Youma. A few even leave behind little crystals, which she looks vaguely pleased to see. After the corpses are disposed of, she teleports them into the Sett without warning and Jadeite gratefully slumps onto the couch.

His body was truly beyond what it had been, proving to himself that Hisayo’s words hadn’t really conveyed the scope of modification done. He had fought against dozens of Youma, unarmed and in nothing but casual wear, for  _ hours _ without getting severely harmed. While he could write off some of it due to his skill in close quarters combat, no amount of skill explained the sheer stamina and force behind his blows. Nor did it explain how he could parry blows that should have fractured or shattered bone, move so swiftly, or the use of telekinesis. 

The telekinesis had been a surprise, as he hadn’t thought he’d have retained the skill after the scouring done by the Golden Crystal.

“Hisayo,” Jadeite pauses, trying to decide where exactly he wants to go with this before tossing it into the wind. “Explain why we just killed dozens of Youma.”

He can see her visibly take in the name before applying it to whatever she had been using to describe them before. Probably something along the line of ‘monster,’ considering how she hadn’t even named this dimension or base until he asked for a name.

“The… Youma are trapped in an area of Tartarus, though you could describe it as a floor level for visualization purposes.” Her face becomes even flatter, more lifeless as she says, “Originally, ten thousand years ago, there were 5000 Youma imprisoned here. However, they did not stay at 5000; they breed. Somehow, over time, they’ve damaged the level they are imprisoned in. I can’t assess or fix the damage yet, so I have to keep the population from growing large enough it can inflict more damage. If I don’t, eventually they’d rupture the level and spill out somewhere on Earth.”

Jadeite can feel his heart thundering at what she was saying, because he had known the awful truth of where Youma came from, but this… “Who trapped them here? Hisayo,  _ what _ is this place for them to trap Youma here?”

“I don’t know who did it specifically. But Tartarus is a prison dimension Jadeite, one the Silver Imperium brought with them when they fled here. It was tied to the planet when they settled on the Moon, and was left to… decay. I don’t know anything else, as it doesn’t seem like the planet does.”

It’s a rare kind of scorching, blistering fury that burns through his veins at her detached revelation. He hates this, hates how they were never asked or informed of this dimension being tied to their planet. Even worse, he hates how he is so utterly ignorant of Tartarus because _Hisayo_ is ignorant; the warden of this prison was flying blind, trying just to keep it from deteriorating further while she scrambled to learn how to fix it.

Impotent and aimless fury roils as he thinks,  _ It’s just another damn brick in the monument to all the reasons I fucking despised the Silver Millenium. At least I’ll never have to deal with them again, even if we’re stuck cleaning up after them. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "At least I’ll never have to deal with them again, even if we’re stuck cleaning up after them" haha
> 
> And what Jadeite isn't aware, is that nowadays we call what he was describing "disassociation."


End file.
